DeLand, Fla. - The 59th-ranked Stetson men's tennis team won its fourth straight match and improved to 10-2 on the season with a 4-3 win over visiting Bradley (7-10) at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center on Friday. The Hatters won the doubles point and the first three singles points to put the outcome in the win column early.

Bradley's Court 3 doubles pair was forced to retire mid-way through the match with junior Didrik Berg (Oslo, Norway) and freshman Nathan Debut (Toulon, France), leaving the Hatters needing just one complete victory to take the point. Senior Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) and freshman Chester Espie (Auckland, New Zealand) delivered in style, powering through Eric Nguyen and Ashton Kalhorn 8-1 on Court 2.

Stetson's singles depth at the #5 and #6 positions showed up again today as Debut and Espie earned straight-set wins over Michael Davis (6-1, 6-2) and Justin Abrams (6-4, 6-1) to put the Hatters ahead 3-0. Levanovich then finished off the Braves with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Kalhorn on Court 1. The remaining three matches ended in Bradley's favor, but those Braves points came about through a retirement, a default and a tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.

"Bradley played an excellent match and though it was not our best, thankfully it was enough to win," Stetson Director of Tennis Pierre Pilote said. "We will have to play better to have an opportunity to win tomorrow against Mercer."

Stetson hosts an A-Sun tennis doubleheader at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center tomorrow vs. longtime conference rival Mercer. The men's match will begin at 10:00 am with the women's match slated for a 2:00 pm start.

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