DULUTH, Minn. – In its first match since Oct. 5, the St. Olaf College men's tennis team fell 5-2 to UW-Superior in a non-conference match on Sunday at Duluth Indoor Sports Center.

UW-Superior (3-7) swept the three doubles matches to get out to a 1-0 lead under the new NCAA Division III scoring format and won four of the six singles matches to top St. Olaf (1-1). This year, the NCAA is piloting the seven-point scoring format for all NCAA Division III non-conference matches, with the team that wins the majority of the three one-set doubles matches earning one point in the team score.

All three of the Yellowjackets' doubles victories came by two games or fewer, as UW-Superior won a tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles and claimed 6-4 wins at the other two spots. After the teams split the first four singles matches to finish, UW-Superior wrapped up the win with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles before taking a super tiebreaker at No. 5 singles to account for the 5-2 margin.

Sophomore Marjan Veldic and first year Madden Vanderwerf recorded St. Olaf's two singles victories in the defeat. Veldic secured a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles before Vanderwerf came back from a set down to record a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (10-5) victory in a super tiebreaker at No. 4 singles to get the Oles within a point at 3-2.

After dropping the first set 6-0 and falling behind 4-1 in the second set, senior David Azcona battled back to tie the second set at 5-5 but fell by a 6-0, 7-5 score. Sophomores Cathal Mee and Ryan Birnesser both dropped their super tiebreakers by 10-4 margins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively.

St. Olaf will face Luther College on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at West Hills Tennis and Fitness Center in Owatonna.