DE PERE, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's tennis team played for the first time this season and faced an opponent with considerably more competition under its belts this season, dropping a 7-2 decision in a dual with St. Norbert College Saturday at the Green Bay Tennis Center.

The Muskies dropped their season and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener against the Green Knights, who played for the 10th time and improved to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in conference.

Lakeland was unable to pick up a win in a contested match, taking its lone two wins at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles when the Green Knights defaulted in both matches. The Muskies did nearly earn a win at No. 2 singles, where Alessandro Bianchi (Sr.-Venice, Italy) came back after winning the first set to force a third set before losing a close tiebreaker, falling 0-6, 6-4, 8-10 to SNC's Brian Coulter.

Ben Busalacchi (Jr.-Muskego, Wis.) also won four games at No. 3 singles, taking advantage of a day off in the men's volleyball season and dropping a 6-3, 6-1 decision to David Vandenberg. Bianchi also was part of Lakeland's best doubles result, pairing with Evan Vorpahl (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) in an 8-3 loss to Brett Daniels and Joe Pellechia at No. 1 doubles.

The Muskies play again Sunday when they travel to take on Illinois Institute of Technology for a dual starting at 9 a.m. at XS Tennis Center in Chicago.