TROY, AL (April 3, 2010) -- The Florida Atlantic University men's tennis team finished a strong fourth over the two-day Sun Belt Shootout after losing a pair of competitive 4-1 decisions on Saturday in Troy, Ala.

First, the Owls fell to the host Trojans in the semifinal round before losing to the University of South Alabama in the consolation match. The losses drop FAU to 11-8 on the spring dual match season.

"This is a disappointing loss for us," said Men's Tennis Head Coach Brandon Stokes on Saturday's outcomes. "We let an opportunity to grow as a tough team pass right through us. We need a complete team effort to make a postseason run."

FAU will get a chance at redemption at the Sun Belt Conference Championships on April 22-25 in New Orleans.

The competitive nature of the morning Florida Atlantic-Troy match was shown when four of the five decided singles matches went three sets. The only triumph for the visitors came from freshman Georg Matschke, who rallied to win the third set by a 6-4 score at No. 5 singles.

Against South Alabama, freshman Matthew Braunworth scored the Owls only point with a straight-set win at No. 6 singles. The win for the Boca Raton native was the team-leading 13th singles victory on the season.

Junior Marc Abdelnour fell in three sets at No. 1 singles in both matches.

"We have our final home match next weekend to redeem ourselves," stated Stokes. FAU concludes the regular season on Saturday, April 10 against Bethune-Cookman University, starting at 2 p.m., in Boca Raton.