CASTLETON, VT - The Thomas men's tennis team lost a close 5-4 match to Castleton on Saturday afternoon in a North Atlantic Conference contest.

In doubles match play, the Terriers (7-5, 2-1 NAC) jumped out to win the first match, as Eric Morin and Tyler Small defeated Seth Marcil and Christopher Belanger 8-3 in No. 1 doubles. No. 2 doubles went to the Spartans (5-5, 3-1 NAC) as Tyler Wilcox and Andrew Overton took down Zachary Disch and Federico Trujillo 8-4.

Lastly, No. 3 doubles went into a tiebreaker as Ryan Mulder and Trevor Hanna of Castleton came out on top 9-8 (7-5) over Caleb Cough and Jonte Roussel, giving the Spartans a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

Thomas got off to a strong start in singles, taking No. 1, 2 and 3. Morin handled Belanger in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 1 spot, while Small beat Marcil 6-3, 6-4. Disch handled Overton 6-0, 6-1 to get Thomas off to a 3-0 start in singles and in the lead at 4-2.

The Spartans tunred it around in the final three matches. Mulder defeated Cough 6-2, 6-4 from the No. 4 slot, and Hanna trumped Joseph Greco 6-4, 6-3.

With the match tied 4-4, it came down to the No. 5 singles match between Caleb Mora of Thomas and Hanna. Mora took the first set 6-4, but dropped the second 7-5. The final set went into a tiebreak, with Hanna coming out on top 7-6 (7-4) to give Castleton the team victory.

Thomas will be right back in action tomorrow, Sunday April 12 to take on Colby-Sawyer College. Match is set to start at 12:00 PM.