GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Augustana Vikings men's tennis team was defeated in their spring opener on Friday, falling to the Cornerstone Golden Eagles on the road by a score of 6-1.

Cornerstone took an early 1-0 lead in the match after taking two of three doubles contests, winning both No. 1 and No. 2 by scores of 6-4 and 6-3. The Vikings grabbed a win in the No. 3 slot from Nicolas Navarro and Justin Cassens, but due to NAIA rules, the team who wins the majority of doubles matches will earn a point heading into singles.

The Golden Eagles won five of six singles contests, but the two teams saw half of the matches go to a third set. Arthur Hermange was victorious in the first set at No. 1 singles, but his opponent narrowly took set two in a tiebreaker and went on to win the third. Navarro also took the first set in his match at the No. 5 slot, but dropped two consecutive in a well-fought battle. Timothee Philip earned the lone win for the Vikings at No. 4, also in three sets, bouncing back from a close first-set defeat to win the final two. The Golden Eagles were victorious in the remaining slots and won the match 6-1.

Augustana drops to 0-1 on the season with the loss. The team will remain on the road on Saturday to take on the Kalamazoo Hornets at 9:00 a.m. CST.