MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Auburn University at Montgomery men's tennis team opened Gulf South Conference action with a home loss to No.3-ranked West Florida at home 4-3 on Friday afternoon.

AUM falls to 1-2 on the young season and opens GSC play with an 0-1 record. The Argos, meanwhile, win their season opener and conference opener after having their first few games rained out.

"The men showed that they are hungry," said head coach Yair Banuelos. "After losing a close doubles point, the boys played with a lot of pride and came out strong in singles, winning five first sets. Credit to UWF, who responded well in important moments. We will learn from this match as we'll host the number one team in the country next, and we hope to have another good battle."

The doubles point was tightly contested between the two GSC rivals. Two of the three games needed a tiebreaker, but West Florida would come away with what would become an important point in the match.

Singles play was dominated by AUM early on. Muhamad Bedwan and David Rieme took down the top two Argos in singles action to take a brief 2-1 lead in the match. However, West Florida was able to close out the match strong, winning the last three singles contests to take a 4-3 win.

Singles:
Muhamad Bedwan def Serdar Bojadjiev 7-5, 6-3
David Rieme def Salvador Bandeira 6-2, 7-5
Nicolas Lecoutre def Joao Guariente 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Francisco Jimenez def Juan Motta 6-1, 7-5
Adam Svensson def David Mulas 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
Juan Cabrera def Giovanni Bellio 6-3, 6-1

Doubles:
Bojadjiev /Svensson def Bedwan/Portugal 7-6
Lecoutre /Shkrob def Rieme/Guariente 7-6
Bandeira /Nery def Mulas/Judy-Hansen 6-2

The Warhawks will turn around on Sunday for a non-conference bout with No.1-ranked Columbus State. The action from the AUM Tennis Complex is set to begin at 1 p.m.

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