PEPPERDINE, Calif.  Saturday afternoon's non-conference Top 25 men's tennis match closed out 12th-ranked Whitman's stay in Southern California over spring break, and the Blues will head north with the sour taste of another close loss after falling, 5-4, to No. 23 Sewanee (Tenn.): University of the South.

It was the third consecutive 5-4 defeat -- each against an ITA-ranked opponent -- in SoCal for Whitman (8-6). Sewanee rebounds from its own 5-4 loss on Friday that ended a five-match win streak to improve to 10-3 on the year with the win over the Blues.

The Tigers gained the advantage after the completion of the three doubles matches, 2-1, by winning at Nos. 1 and 3. Whitman's Trevor Fennessy and Alex Hwang teamed up at 2-doubles to prevent the sweep with an 8-5 win over Sewanee's Andres Carro and Jordan Brewer.

The six singles matches were straightforward and split down the middle.

Each was won in straight sets, with each team claiming three wins and three defeats.

Whitman won the top half of the six matches as Zach Hewlin, Ben Kirsh and Gary Ho downed their counterparts.

Hewlin took care of Jack Grey at No. 1 via a 6-3, 6-4 win, and Kirsh finished off Carro, 2 and 4, at 2-singles. Ho posted an even quicker win at No. 3, taking a 1 and 1 match from the Tigers' Ryan Olps.

But Sewanee salvaged the team victory against Whitman's rally from its doubles deficit by squeezing out wins in the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles slots.

The Blues return home for their next match, taking on Willamette University in a Northwest Conference match Sunday, March 25 at the Whitman Tennis Courts.