PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The men's tennis program at Shawnee State put together a respectable showing in its season-opening match against Mount Vernon Nazarene Saturday, as Greg Geremia's group claimed the doubles point while No. 1 singles talent Landon Smith won his career-opening singles bout as part of various bright spots despite a 5-2 setback for the Bears at the Daehler Tennis Courts in Portsmouth.

Shawnee State won all three of the doubles matches in Saturday's affair to claim the doubles point, as the No. 1 doubles tandem of Daniel Cristobal and Aiden Pine took a 6-0 triumph over Mount Vernon Nazarene's Matt Easter and Noah Hill. Smith and Alonso Salinas scored a 6-3 win over CJ Danemayer and Noah Fitzpatrick at No. 2 doubles while Scioto County products Matt Justice and Aidan Gray teamed up for a 6-2 victory over Blake Boyer and Ryan Almovodar at No. 3 doubles.

In singles competition, Smith then bested Easter by taking 12 out of the 16 games played between the two, winning by identical 6-2 scores in both sets.

Behind Smith, the trio of Justice, Salinas and Pine all fared well themselves despite their setbacks, with all three claiming a set.

Justice, at No. 2 singles, narrowly lost to Danemayer but won 19 games in the scant defeat, battling Danemayer to a 6-2, 4-6, 9-11 decision. At No. 3 singles, Salinas won 17 games, taking Hill to a close 5-7, 6-3, 5-10 contest. Pine won 16 games at the No. 4 position in the lineup, claiming a 7-6 (7-4) win over Boyer in the first set before falling to Boyer by 3-6 and 6-10 marks in the second and third sets.

Aidan Gray and Ethan Hawks also played Saturday, with Gray dropping a 0-6, 2-6 decision to Fitzpatrick and Hawks falling to Almovodar, 0-6, 3-6.

It was a tough loss today," Geremia said of his group. "We came out very strong and played solid, but just couldn't find it when we needed to when the big points arose. Good things are coming from this group though. Huge props and congratulations to Landon for getting his first collegiate win!"

The Shawnee State men's tennis program, along with the women's tennis program, will be back in action at the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament Thursday, Sept. 25 and could potentially play through Sunday, Sept. 28 in Georgetown, Ky. depending on bracket results.

For more information on the Shawnee State tennis programs, visit Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ssu_bears_tennis/.