Saint Leo, Fla.- Lynn University's men's tennis team came back from a 3-0 deficit after doubles play in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Finals but fell 5-4 to rival-Barry on Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Knights fall to 16-4 overall and will turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament as the Blue & White will make its 13th-straight tournament appearance. 

Second-ranked Barry took an early 1-0 lead when Renato Lombardi and Franco Echenique defeated Paolo Volpicelli and Fernando Rivas 8-2 at No. 3 doubles. Alessio Iannozzi and Daniel Riggs fell to Dominik Haider and Kevin Sielmann, 8-6, for  a 2-0 Bucs lead. Lynn's top duo of Mehdi Laalej and Pavel Mojha went point-for-point with 8th-ranked Fabian Groetsch and Ahmed Triki but fell 9-8 (7-2) which gave BU the doubles sweep. 

Lynn would not go down without a fight in singles play however. No. 29 Nico Dreer gave Barry a 4-0 lead when he defeated Mojha 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Volpicelli put the Fighting Knights on the board winning his match at the fifth spot in the lineup, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. No. 47 Rivas lost his first set at number two singles to Haider 3-6, but won the next two sets 6-2, 6-4, which cut Barry's lead to 4-2. 11th-ranked Riggs was shut out 0-6 by No. 4 Groetsch at the top of the lineup but won 6-2, 6-3 in the next two sets making it a 4-3 match. After winning the first set 6-3, Iannozzi lost 3-6 to Lombardi in the second set at No. 6 singles but we won the third set 6-3 tying the SSC Championship match at 4-4. 

At the No. 4 singles spot Kevin Sielmann made quick work of Mehdi Laalej, 6-2, in the first set but Laleej saved match point four times before falling in the second set 7-5. 

Barry wins its fourth SSC Championship in a row with the 5-4 result and both teams head to the NCAA Tournament. For information throughout the post season, log on to LynnFightingKngihts.com. Don't forget to 'Like' us on Facebook and follow @Lynn_Knights on Twitter and Instagram.