Edinburg, Texas – The Nicholls State University men's tennis team lost a close match on Sunday, falling 4-3 against Texas Pan-American in Southland Conference play at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.

Nicholls (0-2, 0-1 SLC) picked up three wins in singles action but surrendered the doubles point in the loss. Notching wins against UTPA (1-2, 1-0 SLC) were sophomores Dmitry Kozionov, Roy Knight, and Palash Tiwari. The duo of freshman Shayann Vaezzadeh and sophomore Matshidiso Malope had the lone win in doubles play.

Malope and Vaezzadeh gave the Colonels their first point of the match with an 8-6 victory. In singles action, Kozionov took out Marcus Dornauf at the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, while Knight defeated Matt Teivans at the No. 4 position, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. At the No. 5 spot, Tiwari, who improved to 2-0 on the year, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, against Ricardo Hopker.

Nicholls returns to action on Feb. 9 for their home opener against Alcorn State. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m.

Complete results for the match against UTPA are below.

Texas-Pan American 4, Nicholls 3

Singles competition

1. Ashwin Vijayaragavan (UTPA) def. Damjan Despotovski (NICH) 6-0, 6-3
2. Beau Bernstein (UTPA) def. Shayann Vaezzadeh (NICH) 6-2, 6-0
3. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) def. Marcus Dornauf (UTPA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Roy Knight (NICH) def. Matt Teivans (UTPA) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
5. Palash Tiwari (NICH) def. Ricardo Hopker (UTPA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Sebastien Job (UTPA) def. Matshidiso Malope (NICH) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Vijayaragavan / Bernstein (UTPA) def. Despotovski/Kozionov (NICH) 8-5
2. Dornauf/ Teivans (UTPA) def. Tiwari/Knight (NICH) 8-3
3. Vaezzadeh/ Malope (NICH) def. Abdelhamid Riani/Hopker (UTPA) 8-6