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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Citadel men's tennis team fell 6-1 to 13^th-ranked Florida State Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs were led by freshman Gavin Stewart's 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles.

"This was a good barometer that shows us where the team is and the growth that they have made in the past five or six weeks," said head coach Chuck Kriese. "Florida State just came off of a very good win over Florida earlier this week and are ranked number 13 in the country. Any and all of these ACC and SEC teams are capable of being top-20 teams because of the consistency of high level that they play at. FSU is an excellent team, but our guys did not back down and we are gaining ground. We competed from the start until the end very well. Their first exchanges and the ability to maintain the level that they need for longer periods of time was the difference.

"Gavin got a very good win at No. 6 and he was also the last guy on the court," Kriese continued. "His fitness has come along very well, and I think that he and the other guys have a great understanding of why we do so much running and why we want them to be so fit. We are all anxious and excited to play as many tough matches as we can and to keep the learning curve high. We open conference play next weekend and the Southern Conference is very strong and we are anxious to dive in to the top of the battles."

The Seminoles took the doubles point behind Guy Iradukunda and Alex Knaff, the 20^th-ranked doubles team in the nation, who won 6-0 against Stewart and Matthew Henson at No. 1 doubles. Chase Wood and Sebastian Arcila defeated Roy Hobson and Will Graham 6-2 at No. 3 doubles to claim the point. Terrance Whitehurst and Terrell Whitehurst, ranked No. 41 in doubles action, rounded out doubles action by defeating Noah Nawabi and Trey Davis 6-3 at No. 2.

In singles action, eighth-ranked Iradukunda defeated Nawabi 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 singles with Knaff besting Henson 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Wood claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Hobson at No. 3 singles and Rana Roop Bhullar won No. 5 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Graham. Terrell Whitehurst rounded out Florida State's wins with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles over Pyritz.

Stewart wrapped up action for the day by defeating Terrance Whitehurst at No. 6 singles 6-3, 6-4. Stewart has now won his last four singles matches without giving up a single set. He is 7-6 for the year in singles action, including 3-3 at No. 6 singles.

UP NEXT
The Citadel was originally scheduled to play a doubleheader in Anderson, South Carolina against Georgia Southern and Clemson on Sunday, Feb. 11, but due to the threat of inclement weather in the area, those matches were canceled. Instead, the Bulldogs will next head to Greenville on Saturday, Feb. 17 for a twinbill against Presbyterian and Furman. The match against the Paladins will mark the start of SoCon action for the 'Dogs.

For more information and score updates on The Citadel men's tennis team, follow @CitadelOlympic on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.