By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

\COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team tied a ribbon on its regular season with a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Tennessee State Monday afternoon at Tech Tennis Courts.

With the loss, the Golden Eagles (3-12, 3-2 HL) officially capture the South Division's No. 3 seed and will battle the North Division No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky in Friday's quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament.

Tech started the match in promising fashion after claiming the doubles point over the Tigers (7-18, 4-1 HL) thanks to victories in two of the three tandem tangles. The Golden Eagle duo of Lucas Bitzer and Davids Spaks secured a 6-2 triumph over Nil Moinet and Diego Britt-Alvarez in the top spot to go along with a Murilo Burckhardt and Paulo Ramos Martin 6-4 nod against Jonasz Dziopak and Daniel Caraballo in the No. 2 position to pick up the doubles point.

TSU secured a win in No. 3 behind a Taj Hibbert and Rohan Loubser 6-4 win over Alex Alvarez and Darek Kuczynski.

The Golden Eagles managed two singles victories with wins in the No. 2 and No. 5 positions. Murilo Burckhardt notched a 6-7, 7-6, 10-9 triumph over Daniel Caraballo in the No. 2 slot, while Darek Kuczynski topped Rohan Loubser 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 6 tussle.

Jonasz Dziopak picked up a win in the top tangle thanks to a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Alex Alvarez, one of four straight-set solo nods for the Tigers. Taj Hibbert topped Paulo Ramos Martin 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 3 get-together, while Diego Britt-Alvarez carded a 6-4, 6-4 nod against Davids Spaks in the No. 4 meeting and Nil Moinet earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Lucas Bitzer in the No. 5 battle.

Tech's quarterfinal contest against Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League Tournament is set for Friday at 10 a.m. CT from the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind. The Golden Eagles knocked off the Norse in last year's quarterfinals behind a 4-0 win in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Photo by Ariana Branstiter