ORLANDO – Santiago de la Rosa Mora won both of his singles matches but his individual effort was not enough to help the Montana State University Billings men's tennis team to a team victory, as the Yellowjackets dropped a pair of matches on Sunday.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-4) lost by the score of 7-2 to Florida Southern University in an early match, before falling to Grand Valley State by the same score in a night match.

The St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the day was de la Rosa Mora.
 
Match 1 – Florida Southern 7, MSU Billings 2
 
Robert Pike won his first career match with a big, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) comeback effort against Florida Southern's Matt Matsuyama. de la Rosa Mora also emerged the victor in his singles match, defeating Arthur Viallaneix in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
 
"Santiago fought hard and kept his opponent moving," said MSUB head coach Becky King. "Robbie overcame many challenges in his match and was able to come out on top."
 
At No. 2 singles, Brandon Beardsley put up a strong effort against Blaine Miller, but the latter walked away with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Brian Slivonik defeated Austin Kische at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-4, and Derek Bell beat Daniil Gorkov at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-4.
 
In doubles play, FSU won both matchups by the score of 8-2 to help secure the win. The Yellowjackets remained without junior Josh Hedderig, who is out with an injury.
 
Pike and de la Rosa Mora each improved to 1-2 in singles play on the season with the wins.
 
Results
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Laurent Mailloux and Fabian Lundberg (FSU) def. de la Rosa Mora and Kische (MSUB) 8-2
No. 2 – Viallaneix and Garneau (FSU) def. Beardsley and Pike (MSUB) 8-2
 
Singles
No. 1 – de la Rosa Mora (MSUB) def. Viallaneix 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 – Miller (FSU) def. Beardsley (MSUB) 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 – Slivonik (FSU) def. Kische (MSUB) 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Bell (FSU) def. Gorkov (MSUB) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 – Pike (MSUB) def. Matsuyama (FSU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
 
Match 2 – Grand Valley State 7, MSU Billings 2
 
Another strong victory was the result for de la Rosa Mora at No. 1 singles, but his opponent at GVSU put up a stronger fight than in his first win of the day. The sophomore lost the first set 6-3, but rallied by winning the next two 6-3 and 6-4 to defeat Zach Phillips.
 
Gorkov also picked up a singles victory in MSUB's second match of the day, a tightly-contested 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) battle against Quinn Sylow.
 
Kische put up a great effort at No. 3 singles, but Jack Heiniger wound up on top, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8).
 
In doubles action, de la Rosa Mora and Kische nearly completed a victory at No. 1, but Francis Bertrand and Bryan Hodges held on for a wild, 9-7 win. At No. 2 doubles, Phillips and Alex van de Steenoven knocked off Pike and Beardsley 8-4, and Heiniger and Sylow beat the team of Gorkov and Mikel Kosich 8-2.
 
"Our men's team played great, and Santiago and Austin fought hard in a grueling match at number one doubles," King said.
 
With the win the Lakers improved to 3-1 overall on the spring season.
 
Results
Doubles
No. 1 – Bertrand and Hodges (GVSU) def. de la Rosa Mora and Kische (MSUB) 9-7
No. 2 – Phillips and van de Steenoven (GVSU) def. Pike and Beardsley (MSUB) 8-4
No. 3 – Heiniger and Sylow (GVSU) def. Gorkov and Kosich (MSUB) 8-2
 
Singles
No. 1 – de la Rosa Mora (MSUB) def. Phillips (GVSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – van de Steenoven (GVSU) def. Beardsley (MSUB) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Heiniger (GVSU) def. Kische (MSUB) 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 4 – Andrew Bole (GVSU) def. Kosich (MSUB) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 – Gorkov (MSUB) def. Sylow (GVSU) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 6 – Michael Kaye (GVSU) def. Pike (MSUB) 6-3, 6-1
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets return to action tomorrow with a 9:30 a.m. Mountain time start scheduled against Cedarville University.