ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's tennis team had its 2023-24 season come to a close on Monday with a 4-3 loss to Southern Arkansas at home in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The loss also marks the end of the Craig and Kim Ward era as leaders of the program. Craig has been the head coach for the past 34 years, ending his run with a record of 473-220, highlighted by 11 conference championship seasons and 21 NCAA tournament appearances. His wife, Kim, is also retiring from her long-time position as manager of the Kim and Craig Ward Tennis Center on campus.

Monday's action started with three closely-fought battles in doubles with the Tigers coming away with wins on court one and court three. SAU did manage a win on court two, but the Tigers took the point for a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

Fernando Docters put the Tigers up 2-0 with the fastest win in singles on court three followed by a two-set win from teammate Phil Exner on court two shortly after to put Ouachita up 3-0.

SAU rallied back to tie the game at 3-3 with wins on courts one, five, and six to set up a winner-take-all battle on court five between Ouachita's Ramon Strassmann and SAU's Mathys Pinoit. In the closest singles bout of the match, Pinoit came away with a 7-6 win in the tiebreaker to give SAU the win and advance the Muleriders to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 in Florida next week.

Ouachita finishes the 2023-24 season with an overall record of 13-8. SAU improves to 14-7.

NO. 33 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 4, NO. 29 OUACHITA 3

DOUBLES

1. No. 5 Exner/Alex Blanchar (OUA) def. Pierre Copin/Tim Fischer (SAU) 6-3

2. Ole Valkyser/Lluc Pasqual (SAU) def. Strassmann/Aaron Osmond (OUA) 6-3

3. Docters/Lagger (OUA) def. Frode Neumann/Matthew Tennant (SAU) 7-6

SINGLES

1. No. 39 Valkyser (SAU) def. No. 12 Blanchar (OUA) 7-5, 6-4

2. No. 21 Exner (OUA) def. No. 43 Fischer (SAU) 6-4, 6-2

3. No. 65 Docters (OUA) def. Neumann (SAU) 6-2, 6-3

4. Pinoit (SAU) def. Strassmann (OUA) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6

5. Tennant (SAU) def. Osmond (OUA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

6. Pasqual (SAU) def. Lagger (OUA) 6-3, 6-4