AVE MARIA, Fla. - Franciscan men's tennis played its best matches of the season in an 8-1 loss to nonconference opponent Ave Maria University.

"This was the best match for us," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "Overall, even though we ended up losing the match, it was good for the players, coming down here and playing Ave Maria. They have some foreign players who really grind out some good hits and are great singles players. It gives our guys a lot of practice so it was a really good match all around."

Ave Maria controlled the match from the start, winning handily at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles by scores of 8-2 and 8-1 respectively. Seniors David Freytag and Zachary Quiza proved to be a much tougher challenge at No. 2 doubles, however, grinding out an 8-6 victory for the Barons' only point of the afternoon.

"They played really well, a tight match all around," Ellis said. "David and Zack stayed focused. I definitely love the chemistry between David and Zack in doubles."

Despite a sweep in singles play, Ellis was particularly pleased with the play from his sophomores - Jarek Sulak, John Gallagher and Connor Jooste.

Sulak has had a rough start to the season after spending the fall semester studying abroad but the sophomore has started to get his swing back, losing 6-0, 6-4 to the Gyrenes at No. 2 singles.

"For the first time all season, he really started to strike the ball well," Ellis said. "He's playing good now."

One court away at No. 3 singles, Gallagher lost his first set but was one game away from forcing a third set before his opponent roared back, winning five straight games to win the match 6-3, 7-5.

The best singles match belonged to Jooste on court No. 5, however. Jooste dropped a rough first set 6-1 but remained competitive to win the second set 7-5, forcing the only three-set singles match of the afternoon. The sophomore ended up losing the third set 6-4.

"Connor has been playing great all season," Ellis said. "It's great to see him continue to play well. I expect to see good things from him at the No. 5 spot"

With the match over, the Barons will stay in Florida for the next couple of days, taking advantage of the warm weather for more practice time before conference play starts next week.

When the team returns from its Spring Break trip, Franciscan will travel to take on Mount Union on Monday, March 14. First serve is at 4:30 p.m.