DANVILLE, Va. — In the final home game of the regular season, the No. 18 regionally ranked Averett University men's tennis team dropped a highly contested 5-4 match at the hands of the No. 17 regionally ranked Methodist University on Thursday at the Averett Tennis Courts.

Averett (8-6, 4-4 USA South) got off to a good start in doubles play, coming away with two wins to give the team a 2-1 advantage over Methodist (11-11, 6-2 USA South). The team of junior Nicolas Yanes and freshman Patrick Shields notched an 8-6 win in No. 1 doubles while the duo of senior Abdugani Ganiev and freshman Fabian Howding also earned an 8-6 victory in No. 2 doubles.

In singles play, Yanes grabbed a competitive 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 victory in No. 1 singles, while sophomore Simon Levinsson logged a 6-3, 6-4 win in No. 6 singles for the Cougars. However, the Monarchs snatched four wins in the other singles slots to slip away with the win.

Averett finds itself all-but locked in third place in the USA South East Division as it travels to William Peace University on Saturday at 1 p.m. to close out the regular season.