Men's Tennis | 4/14/2017 9:23:00 PM

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Moved inside due to weather, the Newman men's and women's tennis teams closed their regular seasons with a pair of tough losses to Northwest Missouri State Friday afternoon.

The Jet women (4-17) were locked into a tight match throughout against the Bearcats (8-12), eventually falling 5-4 in their final competition of the 2016-17 season. In three very close doubles matches, Newman got a point as Janneke de Rijk and Tamar Taskhakaia teamed up for an 8-5 victory at No. 1 to trail 2-1 heading to singles play.

Tskhakaia made it a 2-0 day, easing to a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles. Mariana Guvaria also got a straight-set win at No. 6, and Niamh Packer bounced back for a 2-6, 6-4, 10-4 win at No. 4.

The No. 43 Jet men (9-10) were put to another tough test against the No. 18 Bearcats (15-3), falling 9-0 despite a number of close matches. Nos. 1 and 3 doubles both went to a tiebreak before ending up as 9-8 wins for Northwest Missouri State, while Eduardo Santos and Felipe Batistella both fought hard but fell in close matches at the top two singles spots.

The Newman men will be back in action in a week, looking to extend their campaign through the postseason, beginning with a matchup against St. Edward's in the Heartland Conference semifinals Friday at SMU.