MELBOURNE, FLA. – Bentley came up against some tough competition on the second day of its spring break trip against nationally ranked Florida Tech, and suffered an 8-1 setback despite several good performances. Sophomore Dylan Granat (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) won in singles for the Falcons.

The Panthers, ranked No. 42 in the latest ITA Division II rankings, won their 6^th straight match to improve to 8-2 on the season. The Falcons' record dropped to 3-5.

Though Florida Tech won all three doubles matches, Bentley made them work for it, particularly in the No. 2 match from the team of Brett Gilman (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) and Michael Fuca (Manchester, Mass./Manchester-Essex). They took their opponents, Majed Alshaikh and Ricky Corona to a tiebreak, before falling 9-8 (7-1).

In singles, Granat won the first set in a tiebreak from Gerard Carpinell 7-6 (6-4), before Carpinell rallied in the 2^nd set 6-1. Granat though won the deciding third set, 10-7 to take the match.

Two other matches went to three sets, but went Florida Tech's way. Brendan McCarthy (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) in the No. 1 match against Aria Canadell won the opening set, 6-1. But Canadell took the next two sets, 6-1, 6-2. In the No. 2 match, George Samander (Willemstad, Curacao/ISC) took the first set from Corona 6-3, but Corona rallied in the next two sets, 6-0, 6-2.

Bentley's spring break trip continues tomorrow with a match against USciences in Orlando.