WASHINGTON, Pa. – The West Liberty men's tennis team came out on the short end of a 4-3 tally against Mercyhurst (Pa.) here Tuesday afternoon in a hard-fought match at the Washington Park courts.
    Coach Ronnie Hulewicz's Hilltoppers (9-3) got off to a strong start against the Lakers (6-7), taking two of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles point.
    Nevio Dux and Anton Schulz breezed to a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles while Isfan Makhumudov and Zarion Jones combined to pull out a clutch 6-4 victory in the No. 3 slot.
    Dux also picked up a win in singles play, winning the first set of his No. 5 singles match in a tiebreaker before gutting out a 7-5 nod in the second set. Moritz Erpel got another win for the Black and Gold at No. 1 singles but Mercyhurst claimed the other four singles matches to earn the win.
    Next up for the West Liberty men is another non-conference match against Salem (W.Va.) on Friday.
     Dux/Schulz (WLU) d. Jankovic/Akinpetide, 6-2
Davis/De Sousa (MU) d. Erpel/Gerndt, 6-3
Makhumudov/Jones (WLU) d. Richards/Hernandez, 6-4 Erpel (WLU) d. Akinpetide, 7-6(4) 6-2
Davis (MU) d. Schulz, 7-5 6-2
Jankovic (MU) d. Gerndt, 6-2 6-2
De Sousa (MU) d. Makhumudov, 6-1 6-4
Dux (WLU) d. Plasheski, 7-6(5) 7-5
Haab (MU) d. Jones, 6-3 6-3