Chesterfield, Mo. – The No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis men's tennis team was edged 5-4 on Friday afternoon to No. 13 Denison University at the Chesterfield Athletic Club in a matchup between two top-15 nationally ranked programs. 

The Bears have been in many tight, back-and-forth battles this year coming down to the thinnest of margins, as this now marks the fifth 5-4 team loss this season. 

WashU drops to 12-7 on the year and Denison climbs to 18-2 overall with the win. 

The doubles competition was highly competitive right from the start with two courts going the distance ending in tiebreakers. 

Trailing 2-0, the Bears' lone victory in doubles came at the No. 3 position after Jared Phillips/ Gaurav Singh fought past their opponents in an 8-7 (2) tiebreaker victory to put WashU on the board. 

In singles action, WashU needed to secure four wins to claim the match. Denison extended its lead to 3-1 after tallying a three-set win at No. 6 singles, marking the first match that was completed. 

Daniel Li closed the gap down to 3-2 after compiling a strong effort at No. 2 singles. Li won in straight sets, defeating Jack Bulger of Denison 6-3, 6-0. 

However, Denison would win at No. 1 and No. 3 singles in straight sets to claim the match win. 

WashU did not give up though and battled until the end, as the Bears won two additional matches at No. 4 and No. 5 singles from Singh and Phillips to close out the contest. 

Singh won 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 4 slot and Phillips earned a 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory at No. 5 singles.