KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The SBU men's tennis team started their busy spring break on the wrong foot, falling to Division I Missouri-Kansas City 5-2 at the Plaza Tennis Center. Marton Zsiga and Jorge Palacios picked up singles wins for the two Bearcat points in a hotly-contested match.

With the doubles matches at a win each, Zsiga and Jorge Marigotta were edged by Patrick Smith and Bret Berryman of UMKC 9-8 (6), winning the doubles point for the Kangaroos. The Bearcats evened the overall match at 1-1 with Zsiga's straight set singles win, his eighth straight at #1. The 'Roos took a 2-1 lead with a win at #6 singles before Palacios tied the match at two with a straight set win at #5 singles.

The Bearcats (3-7) looked to be in control with first set wins in the other three spots, but the D-I UMKC squad rallied to win all three slots and took the match 5-2.

SBU continues their busiest week of the regular season, with a trip to Emporia, Kansas, on Tuesday, with men's and women's duals beginning at 11:30 a.m.

University of Missouri-Kansas City 5, #31 Southwest Baptist University 2
Mar 22, 2010 at Kansas City, MO

Singles competition
1. Zsiga, Marton (SBU) def. Berryman, Bret (UMKC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Smith, Patrick (UMKC) def. Carissimo, Domingos (SBU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1
3. Ristivojevic, Serge (UMKC) def. Margiotta, Jorge (SBU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
4. Geurin, Gustavo (UMKC) def. Finerty, Brandon (SBU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
5. Palacios, Jorge (SBU) def. Heckler, David (UMKC) 6-2, 7-5
6. Alawadhi, Abdul (UMKC) def. Welch, Tyler (SBU) 6-4, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Smith, Patrick/Berryman, Bret (UMKC) def. Zsiga, Marton/Margiotta, Jorge (SBU) 9-8 (8-6)
2. Carissimo, Domingos/Finerty, Brandon (SBU) def. Ristivojevic, Serge/Geurin, Gustavo (UMKC) 8-4
3. Alawadhi, Abdul/Heckler, David (UMKC) def. Palacios, Jorge/Welch, Tyler (SBU) 8-1

Match Notes
Southwest Baptist University 3-7; National ranking #31
University of Missouri-Kansas City 6-5
Division I rules - doubles matches count as one point