NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's tennis team fought until the bitter end, but the Springfield College Pride came away with a 4-3 win in Saturday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference match.

The Lyons fell to 6-3 on the year with the loss, while the Pride improved to 5-5 after the narrow victory.

The Wheaton pairing of junior Paul Berteaux (Paris, France) and sophomore Pablo Munoz (Paris, France) was bested by sophomore Liam Huppke (Markham, Canada) and junior Angelo Guzman (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), 6-4, at third doubles. Junior Jaime Gálligo (Madrid, Spain) and first year Landon Wyshner (Winston Salem, N.C.) started strong in the first doubles for Wheaton. The duo cruised to victory over the Pride pair of first year Austin Prendiville (City Beach, Australia) and senior Marc Villanueva Abad (Barcelona, Mexico) as they earned a 6-3 win from first doubles to even doubles play. Juniors Jake Murray (San Diego, Calif.) and Calvin Van Dyke (Albuquerque, N.M.) were held up by sophomore Akito Shinamura (Hirono, Japan) and Phakin Thongbooncharoen (Bangkok, Thailand) as they fell in second doubles, 6-4, and the visitors earned the first point of the match. 

Van Dyke and Huppke faced off with each other in sixth singles. Van Dyke fought valiantly in the first set, forcing a tiebreaker out of Huppke. The Pride player took the frame 7-5, despite Van Dyke's pressure. Huppke cruised to a 6-0 win in the final set to give Springfield the first singles point. 

Gálligo got the ball at first singles against Springfield number one Prendiville. The junior dominated his opponent in the first set, claiming a 6-1 win in the initial frame. Prendiville pushed back in the second set, but was still defeated by Gálligo 6-3 to give Wheaton its first point of the day. The Pride increased its lead to 3-1 as Thongbooncharoen topped Murray in straight-sets at fifth singles to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.

The match was decided at number two singles where Guzman and Munoz squared off at number two singles. The Springfield netter jumped ahead with a 6-2 win in the first set. Munoz battled back to win 7-5 in the second frame, but was topped in the tiebreaker 6-3 to give Springfield a 4-1 lead.

Wyshner was held up by Shimamura in the first set at third singles, but came back to life in the second. After a 6-4 loss, Wyshner fought through a tiebreaker in the second set to win 7-5. He took the deciding set with ease, claiming victory 6-3 to tie the match at 2-2. 

Berteaux faced stiff resistance from Villanueva at number four singles, but managed to come out on top as he overcame the tie to win 7-5. Villanueva managed to win the second frame 6-4, but the deciding third set was taken by Berteaux, 10-7, to close out the match at 4-3.

Wheaton will hit the road for a trip to Worcester, Mass. on Wednesday as it takes on Clark University at 3:00 p.m. Springfield will take the week off before hosting Clark on April 4th at 11:00 a.m.