KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -  The Wichita State men's tennis team fell in a hard-fought battle to No. 20 Tennessee, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at Barksdale Stadium.
 
WSU (2-3) collected singles wins from Haru Inoue and Marius Frosa, while two singles matches were decided by a second set tiebreaker.
 
DOUBLES
No. 20 Tennessee clinched the doubles point, winning matches on court one and two. Juniors Eddie Stoica and Marius Frosa took on Preston Touliatos and Pat Harper on court one for the Shockers. The Shocker duo jumped out to a quick 2-1, before falling 6-3.  Murkel Dellien and Haru Inoue, who came into the match 3-0, fell in the number two slot to Adam Walton and Luca Wiedenmann (6-3), giving the Volunteers the doubles point.
 
Freshman Stefan Latinovic paired with senior Andrea Caligiana on court three, where they faced Martim Prata and Andrew Rogers. After falling behind 3-1, the Shocker tandem rallied to take a 5-4 lead before the match was suspended.
 
SINGLES
Singles play was full of fireworks, with multiple matching coming down to the wire. On court four, Touliatos put the Volunteers up 2-0, taking down Latinovic in straight-sets, (6-2, 6-2).
 
Frosa battled Martin Prata in the third slot for the Shockers. The junior from Romania grinded out a 6-2 first set win, behind an early break. Frosa put WSU on the board, with a 6-4 win in the second to take the match. Freshman Orel Ovil took on fellow freshman Pat Harper on court six, where a battle ensued. Ovil couldn't recover early in the first, falling 6-4 in the first set. Harper took control in the second, racing out to a 5-3 commanding lead. Ovil fought off Harper and took three-straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Harper battled back to force a tiebreaker, where he eventually came out on top, 7-6(3).
 
Inoue got the nod on court one for the first time this season. The senior went head-to-head with Scott Jones. After leading 5-1, Inoue let his lead slip to just one at 5-4 against the No. 75 singles player in ITA/Oracle Rankings, eventually coming out with the set, 6-4. Inoue grabbed an early break in the second and never looked back, winning 6-3 to put move the Shockers within one, 3-2.
 
Stoica competed in the fifth flight for the second time this season, taking on Weidenmann of Tennessee. Stoica rolled in the first, 6-3, before Weidenmann answered with two straight-sets, clinching the match for the Volunteers (4-2).
 
Dellien competed in the second flight for the first time this season, and showed tremendous resiliency, overcoming multiple deficits throughout the match. The junior trailed 5-3 in both sets, storming back to win two and three games in each set, respectively. Dellien dropped the first (7-5), and after taking a 6-5 lead in the second, fell 7-6(4) to give Tennessee the 5-2 win.
 
WSU moves to 2-3 on the season, with all three losses coming to opponents in the top-25.
 
UP NEXT: The Shockers resume action tomorrow in Murfreesboro and Nashville, where they take on Middle Tennessee State and Tennessee State at 2 and 8:30 p.m., respectively.
 

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No. 20 Tennessee 5, Wichita State 2
Barksdale Stadium
Knoxville, Tenn.
 
Singles
Haru Inoue (WSU) def. #75 Scott Jones (TENN), 6-4, 6-3
#106 Adam Walton (TENN) def. Murkel Dellien (WSU), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Marius Frosa (WSU) def. Martin Prata (TENN), 6-2, 6-4
Preston Touliatos (TENN) def. Stefan Latinovic (WSU), 6-2, 6-2
Luca Wiedenmann (TENN) def. Eddie Stoica (WSU), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
Pat Harper (TENN) def. Orel Ovil (WSU), 6-4, 7-6(3)
 
Doubles
Preston Touliatos/Pat Harper (TENN) def. Eddie Stoica/Marius Frosa (WSU), 6-3
Adam Walton/Luca Wiedenmann (TENN) def. Murkel Dellien/Haru Inoue (WSU), 6-3
Stefan Latinovic/Andrea Caligiana (WSU) vs. Martim Prata/Andrew Rogers (TENN), 5-4, unf.
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (4,3,6,1,5,2)