Gardner-Webb's Evgeny Slesarev picked up his 20^th victory of the season last Thursday, becoming the first GWU men's tennis player to accomplish the feat since Gardner-Webb's move to Division I. His win came in a losing effort however as the Bulldogs fell to the Mountaineers, 1-6.

Slesarev's win came in dramatic fashion as he squared off with ASU's 125^th nationally ranked Bobby Lake. Slesarev yearned for his 20^th win and Lake was just coming off a win over another nationally ranked player. In the first set, Slesarev was able to break serve and hold on for a 6-4 win. Lake responded in the second with a grueling 7-6 win to tie the match at one set a piece.

Both players fought hard in the third, neither wanting to give an inch. Lake seemingly had the match one late in the third, but Slesarev was able to fight off several match points to force a second tiebreaker. In the extra frame, GWU's #1 got off to a hot start and never looked back, defeating his opponent 7-2 to take the match 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.

Slesarev, along with partner Rafael Altmayer, also won in doubles action, winning 8-3 at the number one doubles position.

The Bulldogs will look to gain a double-digit win season in their next match as they travel to Banner Elk, N.C. to take on Lees-McRae early this week. The loss to ASU puts the ‘Dogs one shy of 10 wins at 9-16 on the year.

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