CLEVELAND - Franciscan men's tennis ended the season with a 5-0 loss to Case Western Reserve University in the second round of the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Case earned hosting privileges for the regional and a bye into the second round by finishing the season with a 21-7 record. Meanwhile, the Barons advanced into the second round by defeating Grove City 5-2 just one day ago.

Head coach Jeremy Ellis was proud of his team for advancing to the second round of the tournament for just the second time in program history and knew that Case was going to be an extremely tough opponent.

"It was great to play in the second round," Ellis said. "Getting that win was exciting. We knew we were going up against a really strong team. It was a privilege to be out there and play them in the second round. My advice to the team was just to go in confident and just play big."

Freshman Richard Watson and Australian native Connor Jooste took Ellis' advice, went out and took the first game of their No. 3 doubles match before proceeding to drop the next eight, losing by a score of 8-1.

Seniors David Freytag and Zachary Quiza, playing in their final doubles match together, lost their No. 2 doubles match by the same score of 8-1. The two seniors lost the first six games before Quiza held serve to avoid the at-love loss.

At No. 1 doubles, sophomores Jarek Sulak and John Gallagher were the last two on the court before losing 8-2 to give Case a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.

"When we started in doubles, it was just clear that Case Western is just a great team," Ellis said. "They went up 3-0 in doubles. I told the guys again that they had nothing to lose, to just go out there to swing through the ball and play well."

Singles play was more of a dogfight with the Barons taking part in good rallies despite winning only three total games. Sulak, Freytag and Jooste were all able to win one game each in their singles matches.

"If you watch the matches, the guys were hitting nicely and it was good to watch," Ellis said. "It was clear that Case Western was a notch above us."

Case earned the final two points needed to advance to the regional finals with wins at No. 1 (Quiza) and No. 5 (Jooste). Quiza finished his storied career at Franciscan with an appearance in the second round of the national tournament, taking on an opponent who has the second most wins in NCAA Division III history. 

"I think it was a great way for especially Zack to go out," Ellis said. "He's been a great player. He's played some tough matches and won some tough matches. It was just good for him to go to a second round two of the four years he's been here, a good way to go out. And he had the opportunity to play against the second most winningest player in Division III history. Just the opportunity to be able to play a player like that at the collegiate level is great."

The loss to Case wraps up another incredible season for the Barons, highlighted by their fourth straight conference championship and a record number of First Team All-Conference selections.

Although losing their No. 1 in Quiza to graduation will hurt, Freytag will return to the team next year as a graduate student. With a roster full of players having experience at the national level, the Barons are poised to return to the top of the AMCC again next year.

"Just playing in the NCAA tournament, winning in the first round and going to the second round is exactly where we want to be as a young program," Ellis said. "Our hopes and goals are just to continue to advance. I think we have a good foundation and we will just continue to move forward. It's great to coach these guys, a great group of guys to coach. They've put in a lot of hard work with great attitudes. It's been a privilege."