LOCKPORT, Ill. - University of St. Francis split a pair of men's tennis matches on Saturday but won the one that counted the most for its postseason hopes. The Saints defeated NAIA foe Indiana Tech, 5-4, in a morning match and then fell by a 5-4 score to NCAA Division III Wheaton in the late afternoon.

The win over Indiana Tech all but assures the Saints (9-4) of a spot in four-team NAIA regional qualifier to be held in late April.

USF won just one of the three doubles matches but then came back to take four of the six singles bouts to secure the win over Tech. Juniors Jake Quigley (Joliet Catholic Academy/Joliet, IL) and Jakub Szymanski (Bethany College/Poznan, Poland) earned the win at No. 2 doubles and each of them also posted singles wins to key the USF victory. Senior Scott Surges (Providence Catholic H.S./Joliet, IL) won at No. 2 singles and freshman Andres Stecher (Pestalozzi H.S./Buenos Aires, Argentina) won at No. 6 to get the Saints the points they needed for the victory.

After nearly a five-hour break, the Saints took the courts again in the late afternoon to play Wheaton.

USF won two of the three doubles bouts but could only manage to get two singles victories. The Saints played the Wheaton match without the services of junior Erick Dobrzynski (Moraine Valley CC/Justice, IL), who sat out after retiring from his morning singles match after suffering cramps.

The No. 1 doubles team of senior Luis Oliveira (Sao Lourenco, Brazil) and Surges and the No. 2 doubles pairing of Quigley and Szymanski both earned wins as did both Oliveira at No. 3 singles and Szymanski at No. 1 singles.

USF travels to Quincy on Thursday for a match with the NCAA Division II Hawks.