LAKELAND, Fla. – For the second year in a row the Embry-Riddle men's tennis team was able to knock off Lynn in the opening round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament. Seeded fourth, the 13th-ranked Eagles bested the fifth seed and 34th-ranked Fighting Knights 4-2 to advance to the semifinal round of the six-team tournament.
 
Doubles play saw Lynn notch the first win of the day as Haktan Garayev and Yaron Guberman topped Michele Iftimie and Josh Nuyts 6-1 at the top spot. The Eagles bounced back quickly, however, courtesy of Caelan Potts and Fernando Alonso's 6-1 defeat of Gianmarco Amatiste and J. Olive Blanco at the second position. Embry-Riddle's Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo and Safar Rasulov were even with Lynn's Aymen Alumoussa and Gabriele Felline through the first 10 games, but the Eagles' third flight tandem pulled away late to win 7-5 and give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage heading into singles.
 
Diaz Rodrigo extended the Embry-Riddle lead to 2-0 with his quick 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Milan Zivkovic on court six. Potts was next off the court following his 6-2, 6-3 win against Amatiste which gave the Blue and Gold a 3-0 advantage.
 
The Fighting Knights were able to win matches at the second and fourth spots to pull within one, but No. 35 Rasulov, playing at No. 1 singles battled No. 32 Felline to a 7-5, 6-2 win to clinch the Eagle victory.
 
Saturday's semifinal action will see the Eagles go up against the nation's No. 1 team and the top seed in the tournament in Saint Leo. Match time is slated for 1 p.m.