INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian men's tennis fought and clawed Tuesday night against Grace College, but were unable to complete a rally as the Knights fell to the Lancers 4-3. Marian's loss in the Crossroads League finale gives Marian a 5-3 record in league play.

Marian got off to a slow start, losing each of the three doubles matches at the Marian Tennis Courts. On the No. 1 doubles court, Mark Griffin and Andrew Ilett were bested 6-1, and on the No. 3 court the duo of Shadi Al Tori and Ashwin Bhat were defeated 6-2. The two teams finished out doubles despite the Lancers taking the doubles point, with Armando Lopez and Jacob Wittenbaum putting up a fight at No. 2 doubles before falling 6-4.

The match looked to slip away as the first two courts of singles play resolved, as Grace was victorious at both No. 2 and No. 1 singles. Javier Gallego took down Ilett at No. 2 by a 6-1, 6-2 score, and Griffin fell 6-2, 6-4 to Facundo Paredes, seeing Marian fall into a 3-0 hole. Marian's players rallied after falling down three points, and kept the match alive with a win from Dmitrii Voshchenkov at No. 3 singles as he defeated Pablo Gregori 6-4, 6-4.

The comeback continued as Bhat completed a three-set victory at No. 5 singles, as he defeated Nicolas Doria 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (3). Marian scored another victory from Jones McNamar as he won at No. 4 singles, with the sophomore picking up a 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over Ramiro Candia to level the match 3-3. As McNamar finished, darkness set in on the courts, and the match was moved to the Healthplex as Armando Lopez and Francisco Magaria were still locked into their match at No. 6. Lopez picked up a first set win 7-6 (3), but dropped the second set 6-4. With the match result hinging on the third-set tiebreaker, it was Magaria who came out on top, defeating Lopez 10-8 in the tiebreaker to win the match for Grace. 

With the loss Marian falls into the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Crossroads League Tournament, holding the spot via a tiebreaker over Indiana Wesleyan. Marian will host the quarterfinal round next Tuesday, and will play Spring Arbor with the time of the match to be announced at a later time.

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