ALLIANCE - Franciscan men's tennis saw a lot of improvements despite a 6-3 loss to Mount Union in the team's first match after its Spring Break training trip.

"The match was really tight," assistant coach Scott Greve said. "We had several opportunities to pull off some wins but just fell a little short. Mount Union is a tough team, they play in a tough conference. Our guys really battled hard and didn't give up."

Overall, the Barons saw its best doubles play so far this season. Sophomores John Gallagher and Jarek Sulak earned their first win of the season at No. 1 doubles together by an 8-4 score over the Purple Raiders.

"You could just see that, in that match, the training we did down in Florida really paid off," Greve said. "They were up pretty much the whole match. They served well, volleyed well. They were moving well together."

Seniors Zachary Quiza and David Freytag had a strong start to their No. 2 doubles match, earning the lead off an early break, but could not hold on in an 8-4 loss. Meanwhile, the No. 3 doubles pair of Connor Jooste and Joseph Staniszewski took their match to a tiebreaker for the chance to earn Franciscan's second point of the afternoon but lost 7-1 in the breaker.

After taking a 2-1 lead during doubles play, Mount Union quickly sealed up two more victories before Freytag gave the Barons their second point of the afternoon with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles.

"David Freytag played an incredible match," Greve said. :He really battled hard in that first set and, you could see after he won that first set, he just gathered momentum and carried it into the second set. He finished that match off well, really got us out there, and got the match close again. His senior season, he's just really battling and playing some great tennis."

Mount Union then won at No. 5 singles to win the overall match. However, due to lightning, the final two matches had to be moved indoors in order to be completed. Quiza was just three points away from winning his grueling No. 1 singles match before the weather hit. The senior moved indoors and took care of business, winning his three points and the match.

"Zack played a terrific match," Greve said. "He played against a guy that was a real grinder. They had really long rallies and Zack really hung in there, grinded it out, and pulled out a win."

With a lot of improvements and tough matches under their belts, the Barons will start AMCC play on Friday, March 18, when they travel to D'Youville. First serve is at 7:30 p.m.