NEW ORLEANS  – The Nicholls State University men's tennis team could not take advantage of an early lead in doubles against No. 73 Tulane and Lukas Clemens was the only Colonel to record a point as the Green Wave handed Nicholls a 6-1 loss at the City Park Tennis Center on Friday.

Nico Mertens and Partha Adavelly got things started for the Colonels (1-3), picking up a 6-2 win over the 36th-ranked duo over Sebastian Rey/Alex Van Cott. Tulane returned the favor with a 6-2 win at No. 3 before Sam Meessen and Evan Karatzas were edged 6-5 in the deciding match.

"It was a tough day for the guys especially to be up match point in the deciding doubles match and then lose the doubles point," Nicholls head coach Meenakshi Sundaram said. "Nevertheless I was pleased with how they came back in singles and gave themselves a chance of still winning the match. "

Tulane went on to clinch to team win with victories in the No. 4, 2 and 1 slots – all in straight sets. The Green Wave kept rolling, taking the next two matches for a 6-0 lead. But Clemens was able to prevent the shutout, bouncing back from a 6-3 loss to win 6-2, 6-2 against Takuma Ohashi.

"Tulane is a solid team and unless you can execute your ideas, you will fall short and that is what happened today," Sundaram said. "It is good to play a team like this early in the season as the guys realize what more they need to add to their game to compete and come out ahead against teams like Tulane. They were a better team today and deserved to win. My young team is getting better with every match and that is a very promising situation to be in this early in the season."

The Colonels return to the court on Feb. 15 for a conference match against Oral Roberts. First serve in Monroe, La. is scheduled for 11 a.m.

#73 Tulane 6, Nicholls 1

Singles competition
1. Dominik Koepfer (TLNM) def. Partha Adavelly (NICM) 6-2, 6-5
2. Sebastian Rey (TLNM) def. Nico Mertens (NICM) 6-3, 6-2
3. Lukas Clemens (NICM) def. Takuma Ohashi (TLNM) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. Jao Chi-Shan (TLNM) def. Sam Meessen (NICM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Ian Van Cott (TLNM) def. Bernard Wezeman (NICM) 6-1, 6-4
6. Alex Van Cott (TLNM) def. Evan Karatzas (NICM) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Dominik Koepfer/Jao Chi-Shan (TLNM) def. Lukas Clemens/Bernard Wezeman (NICM) 6-2
2. Nico Mertens/Partha Adavelly (NICM) def. #36 Sebastian Rey/Alex Van Cott (TLNM) 6-2
3. Ian Van Cott/Takuma Ohashi (TLNM) def. Sam Meessen/Evan Karatzas (NICM) 6-5

Match Notes:
Nicholls 1-3
Tulane 4-1; National ranking #73
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,2,1,5,6,3)