DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The men's tennis teams from Embry-Riddle and the United States Air Force Academy met for the first time on Thursday and after three hours of play, it was the Falcons who came out on the winning end of a 4-3 contest. The loss puts the 16th-ranked Eagles at 1-1 on the young season, while the Falcons improve to 7-4.
 
The day began with a win at No. 1 doubles for the Eagles as the fourth-ranked tandem of Juan Ortiz Couder and Andres Donayre downed Patrick Sklenka and Tadhg Collins 6-3. Playing at the third flight doubles, ERAU's Micakel Faucher and Lucas Bos secured the doubles point with their 6-2 defeat of Isaac Perez and Robert Baylon. The final doubles match saw the Falcons' Jamie Bautista and Paul Hendrix rally for a 6-4 win over Alexis Guedy and Andrej Omeragic.
 
The Falcons picked up the first three singles points, notching wins at the second, fourth and fifth positions. Luke Sanderson was first off the court with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Donayre on court two, and Collins bounced back from a loss in the first set to top Bos 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 on court four. Playing at the fifth spot, Baylon made it 3-1 in favor of Air Force with his 7-5, 6-1 win over Faucher.
 
At No. 6 singles, Omeragic fended off a tough challenge from Scotty to take the first set 7-6 (4), but dropped the second 6-2 to force a third set. The third was all Omeragic as the ERAU freshman came out on top 6-1 to make the team score 3-2 in favor of the Falcons.
 
The match at No. 1 singles also needed three full sets to determine the outcome. Sklenka took the first set 6-2, but Ortiz Couder rebounded to take the second 6-4. Ortiz Couder led 4-1 early in the third, but Sklenka rallied to win 7-5 and score the clincher for the Falcons.
 
The final match off the court was at no. 3 singles, where Guedy topped Hendrix 7-6 (4), 6-2, 10-6.
 
The Eagles will look to bounce back from Thursday's loos on Tuesday when they travel to St. Augustine to take on sixth-ranked Flagler in a match slated for 3 p.m.