WESTERVILLE, Ohio - Franciscan men's tennis battled some adverse court conditions but managed to make improvements during singles play in an 8-1 loss to nonconference opponent Otterbein.

Franciscan and Otterbein battled it out on the Cardinals' multipurpose courts, presenting a very unique challenge to the Barons who are not used to playing on the different surface.

"Those courts are very tough to play on," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "These courts are very fast. They skid. It makes it hard to find any type of rhythm. It is a home court advantage for Otterbein. Either way, we don't use it as an excuse."

Doubles play proved to be a learning experience as the players acclimated to the court while singles play was much more competitive as the Barons got used to the surface.

"Doubles is so fast, points end so quickly," Ellis said. "Singles got a little more rhythm in and got adapted to the courts a little bit more."

Sophomore John Gallagher adjusted to the courts well and played a competitive singles match on court No. 3. After losing the first set 6-4, the sophomore was serving at 4-4 in the second set but had his serve broken and lost the second set 6-4 as well.

"John played well," Ellis said. "He got definitely more used to the courts. He was solid."

Another competitive singles match was played by senior Joseph Staniszewski on court No. 6. Staniszewski lost his first set 6-1 but battled back to take the second set to a tie break before losing 7-6(2).

Senior captain David Freytag pulled out the only win for the Barons in his No. 4 singles match. Competitive from the very beginning, Freytag lost his first set 7-5 but took control of the second set, winning 6-2. As the overall match had already been decided, the senior and his opponent played a 10-point tiebreaker to decide his match, rattling off three straight points to win the tiebreaker 10-7.

"David pulled out a huge match, he played really well," Ellis said.

While the Barons are still winless this spring, Ellis is pleased with his team's performance thus far thanks to an increased amount of practice time at the YMCA indoor facility and starting the season with a tough nonconference schedule.  

"Difficult matches and having a lot of indoor court time is going to help tremendously for our conference matches," Ellis said. "We are hitting well, we are playing good tennis. We're definitely ready for conference."

The Barons will have two weeks off before traveling down to Florida for a Spring Break matchup with Ave Maria University on Wednesday, March 9. First serve is at 1 p.m.