LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Stetson men's tennis team (6-0) defeated Loyola Marymount (0-9) by a score of 4-3 in a thrilling match on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, California. The Hatters remained undefeated on the season and improved to 6-0 for the second time in the last three seasons.

"The team played a very memorable match today," Director of Tennis Pierre Pilote said on Thursday. "[Loyola Marymount] gave us everything they had. They played an excellent match."

Due to the threat of rain, the singles matches were played first instead of the doubles. At the number one singles position, senior Didrik Berg was defeated by Othar Kordaschia 6-3, 6-1, but freshman Simon Julin evened the match at 1-1 when he defeated Sebastian Bustamante 6-1, 6-4. Freshman Egor Panyushkin was trailing Felix Van Kann 5-7, 6-3, 1-2 before retiring from the match.

Todd Volmari defeated freshman Laurynas Antropikas 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to put the Lions one match away from capturing the victory. However, Stetson responded to take the final three points. It all started with freshman Cahit Kapukiran, who defeated Cristobal Rivera 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. Sophomore Chester Espie then evened the match at 3-3 by defeating Daniel Simko 4-6, 7-6, 6-2.

The match came down to the doubles point, where Stetson took two out of the three matches to secure the victory. Berg and Julin started doubles by defeating Kordaschia and Nick Northcott 8-1. Stetson then sealed the victory when Kapukiran and Espie defeated Van Kann and Rivera 8-4.

"With the match on the line, the guys battled from the very first point of the doubles with incredible passion," Pilote said.

Stetson will now return home for a six-match home stand, starting Monday when Northern Illinois comes to town. The match is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

Match Notes: Espie has won 18 straight dual matches, dating back to last season (21 including this fall)...Kapukiran and Julin remained undefeated on the season in singles play.