CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Wichita State men's tennis team dropped an incredibly close match to the 66th ranked Charlotte 49ers on Saturday afternoon, 4-3.
 
With the loss, the Shockers (3-14) have lost six in a row and Charlotte (10-5) breaks their three-match losing streak with the win.
 
The Shockers started slow in doubles, losing court three in a 6-0 sweep, giving Charlotte the early edge. WSU duo Richey King and Misha Kvantaliani would respond with a confident win at court one, 6-2 to even doubles at 1-1. The 49ers would ultimately win the point, defeating Ziwen Ju and Vanja Hodzic at court two, 6-2, to win doubles 2-1.
 
In singles, Luke Bracks would fall first, going down swiftly at court five, 6-0, 6-2.
 
Afterwards, Kvantaliani notched his fifth singles win of the season with a narrow victory at court two, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
 
The teams would split the next two points, as Ziwen Ju would be defeated at court six, 7-6, 6-1, and Hodzic returned the favor with a 7-6, 6-2 win at court four, making it 3-2 in favor of Charlotte with two courts to go.
 
Marcelo Sepulveda would bring the match level with a victory in a three-set bout at court three, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, turning eyes to Alejandro Jacome at court one to decide the match.
 
After losing his first set in a very close tiebreak, Jacome battled to force a third set with a 6-3 win in the second set, setting up a winner-take-all third set. The set started close, but Charlotte's Spencer Gray would jump out to a 5-3 lead in the third set. Jacome wasn't done, battling back to tie the match 5-5, but Gray would win the next two games to win his match 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5, and clinch the match for the 49ers, 4-3.
 
Next up, The Shockers will head to Houston, Texas next week for two more matches against American Athletic Conference opponents. The Shockers will play the 67th ranked Rice Owls on March 22 and the UAB Blazers on March 23, both in Houston at Rice's George R. Brown Tennis Center.