FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision at Fairmont State on Monday in a battle of regionally-ranked Mountain East Conference squads.

    Coach Ronnie Hulewicz's Hilltoppers (8-6, 3-1) split the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches with the hosts, meaning the winner of the No. 3 doubles match would earn the doubles point.

    West Liberty's duo of Joao Benvenutti and Derek Roehner battled to the wire and beyond only to see Fairmont pull out a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker to carry a 1-0 lead into singles play.

    The hard luck continued for the Hilltoppers in singles as half of the six matches were extended into three-set matches with FSU coming out on top in all three. Nevio Dux gave West Liberty its only point of the day, cruising to a 6-4 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.

    The Hilltoppers return to the MEC road again on Thursday for a 4 p.m. match at West Virginia Wesleyan.