Murfreesboro, Tenn. (March 31, 2006) ? The University of South Florida men's tennis team played without its top player, No. 29 Dirk Britzen in its 6-1 loss against Middle Tennessee State, Friday afternoon.

The Bulls took the No. 31 Blue Raiders down to the wire in doubles competition. Marc Jaeger and Dillon Brozyna battled the No. 5 doubles team of Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom, ultimately lose the hard-fought match, 9-7.

USF will return to the courts on Fri. April 7 when they host VCU at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. First Serve is set for 2 p.m.

#31 Middle Tennessee 6, USF 1
SINGLES
1. (55) Andreas Siljestrom (MT) def. Federico Barton (USF), 7-6 (3), 6-4
2. Kai Schledorn (MT) def. Marc Jaeger (USF), 7-6 (3), 6-2
3. Morgan Richard (MT) def. Juan Barragan (USF), 6-4, 6-3
4. Mark Gattiker def. Rishan Kuruppu (MT)(USF), 6-4, 2-6, 10-5
5. Greg Pollack (MT) won by default
6. Marc Boiron (MT) won by default

DOUBLES
1. (5) Marco Born-Siljestrom (MT) def. Jager-Dillon Brozyna (USF), 9-7
2. Brandon Allan-Schledorn (MT) def. Barton-Gattiker (USF), 8-6
3. Pollack-Richard (MT) won by default