Biola men’s tennis opened up its season at home against Hope International University on Thursday afternoon. The Eagles showed some promise but ultimately lost to the Royals by a team score of 4-2.

The day started with three doubles matches, and it came down to the wire. The no. 1 doubles team of sophomores Logan Blair and Quentin Lau came up short in a 6-3 loss. The no. 3 team of junior Edwin Ramos and senior David Garcia took home the win 6-4 to set up a tiebreaker match at no. 2 doubles. However, the tandem of juniors Derek James and Erik Martinez could not close out a tight 7-6 loss.

“I feel like I played the best I could. I was feeling well and doubles we did well, and as a team hopefully we can do a little better next time,” Ramos said.

Next  came the singles matches, and they started with Ramos taking on the Royals’ best player at the no.1 slot. Ramos fought hard but took the straight-set loss 6-3, 6-4. In the no. 2 match, Blair pulled out a victory 6-4, 6-2. Lau fell at the no. 5 spot despite a late comeback, losing 6-2, 7-6, but James was able to tie the singles matches up at two apiece with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win.

“I felt like I could’ve played even better, but with the win, I’ll take it,” James said.

This set up match-deciding games at the four and six singles slots, as a victory from either one would win it for either the Eagles or the Royals. Senior David Garcia fell 7-6, 6-3 at the number six spot, and HIU took the 4-2 overall victory.

“We have a lot of new starters so it was hard to get a feel for how we were gonna compete, so it was good to see us compete and figure out what we need to do to be better as a team and improve as the season goes on,” said head coach David Goodman.

The Eagles (0-1) have one day to practice before they return to the Biola Tennis Center on Saturday against San Diego Christian University at 1 p.m.