LEXINGTON, Va. - The 2009 season officially got underway for No. 23 Salisbury University as the men's tennis team competed in their first dual match of the year. The Sea Gulls went up against No. 19 Washington and Lee University on the road Saturday at the Duchossois Tennis Center and lost a hard fought 5-4 match. The two teams are also highly ranked in the Atlantic South region as the General (3-1) are fifth and the Sea Gulls (0-1) are a spot below in sixth.

At first doubles Salisbury juniors Scott Burtzlaff and Evan Thomas, ranked No. 7 in the region, defeated Tim Watson and Jamie McCardell 8-5 to secure the first win of the day. Washington and Lee rallied to take the other two doubles matches to jump out to a 2-1 lead heading into singles play. Freshman Daniel Barnas and sophomore Andrew Nottage, ranked No. 13 in the region, lost 9-7 at No. 2 to Jonathan Gaffney and Brent Meyers. Sophomore David Lupinetti and junior Marcus Robinson fell short in third doubles 8-2 to Alex Brook and Jeremy Becht.

The two teams split the six singles matches as the three wins secured the win for the Generals. Salisbury's Burtzlaff, ranked No. 25 in the region, defeated McCardell in three sets 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2. Thomas followed with a straight set 6-1, 6-3 victory over Gaffney. The Sea Gulls other victory came from Barnas who needed three sets to defeat Becht, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The win is Barnas' official collegiate victory in a dual match. Washington and Lee took wins at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Meyers defeated Lupinetti at No. 3 singles 7-5, 6-4; Ben Fass beat Nottage 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 singles while Michael Freeman won 6-2, 6-4 over senior Sasha Felikson to close out the match.

Salisbury will remain in Lexington overnight to face Hampden-Sydney College in a neutral site match tomorrow (Sunday, March 1) at 9 a.m. HSC is a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, the same conference Washington and Lee belongs to.