SEARCY, Ark. – The McKendree University men's tennis recorded its second straight win over a nationally-ranked opponent here Sunday afternoon as the Bearcats picked up a 4-3 victory over 48th-ranked Harding University in a non-conference match at the Elliott Tennis Complex on the Harding campus.
 
Sunday's win came about 24 hours after the Bearcats earned a 5-2 non-conference victory over 28th-ranked Rockhurst at Triad High School in Troy, Ill.
 
With Sunday's victory, the Bearcats improved to 9-1 on the season and went 2-0 on the weekend, while Harding fell to 8-5 with the setback.
 
"This was an unbelievable win for our men's team. Year-in and year-out, Harding is one of the top programs in the country. To go to Searcy, compete in extremely tough conditions and come out with a victory says everything about the character of our guys," McKendree men's tennis head coach René Vidal said following the win.
 
Sunday's match began with doubles and for the fifth straight time, the Bearcats would lost the doubles point as the Bisons took two of the three doubles matches to earn the point and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Despite losing the doubles point, McKendree's No. 1 team of junior Leonardo Frederico (Tujucas-Santa Cantrina, Brazil/UniCesumar) and graduate student Boriss Kamdem (Ghent, Beligium/Tulsa) collected their ninth straight win on the season and improved to 11-1 on the year with a 6-3 victory over Harding's No. 1 team of Arthur Bellan and Dani Ortiz.
 
Harding, though, would win 7-5 at No. 2 doubles and 6-4 at No. 3 doubles to earn the point.
 
At No. 2 doubles, Harding's 30th-ranked doubles duo of Alvaro de Lorenzo and Morgan Salvan picked up a hard-fought 7-5 win over McKendree's duo of junior Lorenzo del Biondo (Pescora, Italy/Abraham Baldwin College) and sophomore Nanase Ebisu (Osaka, Japan/Hawai'i Pacific), while sophomore Subash Paramasivan (Chennai, India/Saraswathi Kendra) and senior Vishnu Prasad (Chennai, India/National Institute of Open Schooling) fell 6-4 at the No. 3 spot to Milosh Petrovic and Diego Pierola.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the match, the Bearcats would rally to win four of the six singles matches to earn the match win.
 
Harding would take a 2-0 lead in the match following Petrovic's win at No. 5 singles over freshman David Leon Mantilla (Lima, Peru/Colegio Parroquial Santa Rosa de Lima), 6-2, 6-3.
 
The Bisons would take a 3-0 lead in the match following its 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles by Salvan over Paramasivan.

McKendree would finally earn a point in the match as Prasad picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Bryce Walker at No. 6 singles to trail the match, 3-1.
 
The Bearcats next win in singles came at the No. 2 spot as 52nd-ranked Kamdem picked up a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) win over Bellan. With his win, Kamdem improved to 10-2 on the season and has now won four straight singles matches.
 
Frederico would help the Bearcats tie the match at 3-all following his win in three sets at No. 1 singles against Ortiz. Frederico won the first set, 6-2, before falling 6-4 in the second set. Frederico would then collect a 6-1 win in the third set to improve his record to 10-4 on the season.
 
Sunday's match came down to the No. 4 singles match between sophomore Julappagari Anurag Reddy (Dubai, UAE/CBSE School Nationals) and de Lorenzo. Reddy would lose the first set, 6-1, before rallying to post a 6-2 win in the second set to force a third and final set to determine the match's outcome. In the third set, the two players battled early on, before Reddy was able to pull out a 6-3 win to secure the fourth and final point and give the Bearcats the road victory.
 
"I am so proud of everyone. The energy of our team was great today," Frederico said about the win over Harding. "We created a strong culture within our team, built upon respect and trust. We will continue to work very hard and get ready for the next match."
 
The Bearcats will look to win its third straight match this coming Friday, April 1 as they travel to St. Louis, Mo., for a 4 p.m. match at the Washington University in St. Louis. The Bears are ranked fourth in the latest ITA NCAA Division III team rankings.