DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The second-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team extended its winning streak to 10 matches with a 5-4 win over Oklahoma Christian (7-3), Wednesday at the Crotty Tennis Complex. ERAU avenged last season's 5-4 loss to OCU and improved the Blue and Gold's 2012 record to 12-1 overall.
 
ERAU was faced with the challenge of playing without senior Adrian Bayh who was unavailable for Wednesday's contest due to injury. Bayh's absence resulted in a slight shakeup in the Eagle lineup as Bayh, who comprises half of ERAU's top-ranked doubles team, was replaced at the top spot in the doubles lineup by David Spennare.
 
Facing the fifth-ranked tandem of Bruno Tiberti and Martin Poboril, Spennare and Besch put up a good fight, but suffered a tough 8-6 loss, giving OCU its first point of the day. ERAU's 10^th-ranked pair of Chris Freeman and J.R. Leonik pulled the Eagles level with an 8-6 win over 11^th-ranked Pier Pieracianni and Nicolas Auruccio and No. 22 Peter Francis and Simon Felix held off Jaime Sanchez Canamares and Renardy Guelfi 9-7 to give ERAU a 2-1 edge heading into singles.
 
The Eagle lead was short-lived as Tiberti, ranked second in the NAIA, upended top-ranked Freeman 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 singles to make the team score 2-2. No. 20 Sanchez Canamares put OCU ahead by a point by holding off 14^th-ranked Felix 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) at the third singles spot.
 
Besch, ranked 12^th in the NAIA, got a point back for the Blue and Gold by registering a straight set (6-3, 7-6 (7-4)) upset of eighth-ranked Poboril on court two. Playing at the fourth singles spot, Francis took the first set 7-6 (7-5), but the second went to Piercianni (7-6 (7-3)) to force a third set tiebreak. Approximately four hours after starting his singles match began, Francis emerged victorious after taking the third set 7-5 to give ERAU a one-point lead once more.
 
At No. 5 singles, Spennare managed a 7-6 (8-6) edge in the first set, but dropped the second to 37^th-ranked Auruccio 6-2. With his teammates willing him to victory, Spennare regained his focus and downed Auruccio 6-2 in the third set to clinch the ERAU win.
 
“Coming into today I thought we might have a little bit of a letdown,” ERAU Head Coach Dave Paschal stated following the match. “We were facing some adversity missing Adrian at No.1 doubles and No. 4 singles, but Dave stepped up and played really well for us. He is playing the best level of tennis I've seen him play since he's been here. Oklahoma Christian is a great team and we could play them 10 times and the score could be 5-4 every time.”
 
 
The Eagles will be back in action at 1 p.m. on Mar. 31 when they travel to West Palm Beach to take on conference foe Northwood.