Sanford, Fla. -- One day after its first scheduled Spring Break match was rained out, the Wheaton men's tennis team belatedly got its annual program in Florida started with a contest against Piedmont University. The Thunder took on the Lions this afternoon in the first-ever meeting between the two sides, and the USA South squad emerged with a 6-1 win that saw them improve to 8-4 on the year. Wheaton will remain at the same venue on Wednesday for their next match, a 3 PM (EDT) clash against Curry College.

Wheaton was victorious at the first doubles position today thanks to a hard-fought 7-6 tiebreak win from the experienced duo of Tim Steiner and Jacob Williams. But Piedmont earned the team point from doubles play with a pair of 6-3 match wins in the second and third doubles fixtures.

While Steiner saw his #1 singles contest also involve a tiebreak set, his doubles partner Williams completed a personal sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at #2 singles to post the lone point on the scoreboard for Wheaton this afternoon. Evan Walther captured the first frame of his #3 singles battle, but the Lions prevailed in the remaining four solo fixtures to secure a comfortable team victory.

Wheaton will look to get back to winning ways when it takes on the Curry Colonels tomorrow afternoon in Sanford.