BEAUMONT, Texas  – The Nicholls men's tennis team played its first match in over two weeks with a Southland Conference matchup against No. 57 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at the Thompson Family Center  and the Colonels came away with a 5-2 defeat.

With the loss, Nicholls falls to 7-10 and 2-2 in the Southland. The Colonels will play their regular season finale on Saturday at home against Lamar. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m.

The Colonels had a promising start against the nationally ranked Islanders (13-7, 3-0), taking the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches to grab a 1-0 lead. Dmitry Kozionov/Jeoffrey Noblecourt picked up a 8-4 win at No. 2, while Roy Knight/Evan Karatzas outlasted Andrew Maingot/Guillaume Rauseo 9-8. In the top match, Damian Despotovski/Nico Mertens suffered an 8-5 loss.

Kozionov continued his perfect day with a straight set win at No. 2, defeating Gergo Weidinger 6-4, 6-2. However, the Colonels would be shut out the rest of the way. After losing the first set 6-3 in the No. 4 match, Mertens put up a fight in the second set against Matt Westmoreland, but came up short, losing 7-6 (9-7).

#57 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 5, Nicholls 2
Singles competition
1. #93 Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Damian Despotovski (NICH) 6-2, 6-3
2. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) def. Gergo Weidinger (AMCC) 6-4, 6-2
3. Matt Westmoreland (AMCC) def. Nico Mertens (NICH) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
4. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Roy Knight (NICH) 6-3, 6-2
5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Evan Karatzas (NICH) 6-1, 6-4
6. Pietro Jordao (AMCC) def. Jeoffrey Noblecourt (NICH) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Peter Nagy/Gergo Weidinger (AMCC) def. Damian Despotovski/Nico Mertens (NICH) 8-5
2. Dmitry Kozionov/Jeoffrey Noblecourt (NICH) def. Matt Westmoreland/Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) 8-4
3. Roy Knight/Evan Karatzas (NICH) def. Andrew Maingot/Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) 9-8

Match Notes:
Nicholls 7-10, 2-2 Southland
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 13-7, 3-0 Southland; National ranking #57