Men’s tennis took a huge step in the right direction this weekend by separating themselves from the 2013 season.

After an underwhelming 2-17 season, the Eagles defeated California Institute of Technology 5-4 in their season opener in La Mirada.

Freshman Lucas Lee picked up a win in his singles match for the Eagles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. Lee also teamed up with junior Tayven Townsend to pick up a win in doubles play.

Townsend won his singles match as well, which was the deciding factor in Biola’s one-point victory. Junior Brandon Chang and freshman Luke Mountain also picked up wins for the Eagles.

Chang was the only Biola player from the 2013 team to win against Cal Tech.

A win this weekend won’t mean an easy road from here on out. The men beat Cal Tech to open up both the 2012 and 2011 seasons, only to go on and lose more than 14 matches in both years.

Men’s tennis has not had a winning season since returning as a Biola sport in 2007. Starting off the season 1-0 is clearly the first step to changing that, but as history would indicate, it’s still a long road from here.

Biola women’s tennis also opened their season on Saturday, but were downed by Cal Tech, 2-7. The team finished with only one win more than the men’s team last season and has a long way to go as well.

The men will take on Chapman University in Orange this Friday as they look to go for their first 2-0 start in program history. The women are at home to take on California Lutheran University at 3 p.m.