ATLANTA -- The UT Tyler Men's Tennis team dropped a heart-breaker to No. 20 Washington and Lee, 5-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Div. III Men's Tennis Championships.  The Patriots finish the season with a 17-6 record.

UT Tyler struck first in the match, as doubles duo Ryan Spencer and Kevin Singer claimed an 8-5 win over Washington and Lee's Hayden White and Taylor Shamshiri, while its No. 3 doubles team of Doug Kierstead and Joey Hendrie earned an 8-5 victory over Mac Davis and Brian Roberts.  The No. 2 doubles team of Kevin Wright and Rob Hodous defeated the Generals' Jeremy Becht and Ben Fass in a marathon-match, winning 9-8 (5).

Washington and Lee mounted their dominant comeback in singles play.  Shamshiri won in straight-sets over the Patriots' Singer, 6-2, 6-0.  Teammate White then beat UT Tyler's Spencer, winning 6-1, 6-1. 

Roberts won a three-set match over the Patriots' Hodous, winning 6-0, 3-6, 6-0, giving Washington and Lee the 4-3 advantage in the match.  Becht then clinched the match for the Generals, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 over Wright.

The No. 4 singles match was left unfinished, with Edward Timponi winning the first set 6-3, while W&L's Michael Freeman winning the second set, 6-1.  The third set was tied at 2-2, before being stopped.

With the win, Washington and Lee improved its season record to 17-4.