FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 14 Georgia College Men's Tennis team (9-11) started the 2017 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tennis Tournament on the short end of a 5-1 matchup with No. 4 Armstrong State University (17-6) Friday afternoon. The No. 7-seed Bobcats move to the tournament backdraw, while the No. 2-seed Pirates advance to the PBC Semifinals.

The lone team point came in second doubles, where the pairing of senior Mattia Campus (Concorezzo, Italy) and junior Pedro Ecenarro (Santiago de Compostella, Spain) edged Bjorn Kurtze and Lorenzo Camilli 8-5. Campus and Ecenarro improve to 11-7 on the season.

In first doubles, Christian Graff (Lohmar, Germany) and Kyle Kinsler (Suwanee, Georgia) teamed for an 8-5 loss at the hands of Jan Porteset and Alberto Caceres. The third line didn't fare any better, as Anton Waern (Taby, Sweden) and Nathan Connelly (McDonough, Georgia) fell 8-2 to Alvaro Cruz Chomorro and Ignacio Hernandez.

The Pirates swept three singles bouts to get the team win, picking up points in the second, third and sixth slots. In second singles, Ecenarro fell 6-4, 6-4 to No. 48 Hernandez. Waern dropped a third singles bout to Porteset 6-2, 6-1, and Connelly got shut out by Kurtze in sixth singles.

The Bobcats begin backdraw play against No. 6-seed USC Aiken Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on social media for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.