BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – Birmingham-Southern men's tennis opened up their season with a doubleheader against Wallace State Community College and UT Southern. The Panthers split the day with a 6-3 win over the Wallace State Lions and a 6-3 loss to UT Southern. 
 
Match one: The Panthers No. 1 doubles pair of Wilbur Dotson and Tanner Debardelaben took their match 6-4. Hallet Green and Elijah Ingleson took the No. 2 doubles 6-4 as well.  The Lions earned their only doubles win at No. 3, beating the Panthers 6-3. With a 2-1 lead over the Lions, the Panthers looked to finish off the match with a win in their singles play.

BSC took four wins in their singles play with all being straight set wins. Tom Smith secured the first singles win for the Panthers at No. 5. Tanner Debardelaben took No. 4, Hallet Green took No. 1 and Elijah Ingleson finished it off at No. 3. 

Records
Birmingham-Southern 1-0 Overall (0-0 SAA), WSCC 0-1 Overall (0-0 ACCC)

Match two: The Firehawks took all three doubles matches against the Panthers. Heading into singles play, the Panthers were looking to gain momentum and take the match back from the Firehawks.

Hallet Green secured the first singles win for BSC at No.1. Tanner Debardelaben took the No. 5 match in straight sets, while Elijah Ingleson took the No. 4 in three sets. The three wins in singles were not enough for the Panthers to make the comeback they were hoping for. 

Records
Birmingham-Southern 1-1 Overall (0-0 SAA), UT Southern 3-1 Overall (1-0 Mid-South)

Up next
The Panthers will hit the road on Saturday, Feb. 12 as they travel to Demorest, Ga. Match time against Piedmont University is set for 1:30 p.m.

*Martin Methodist reclassified in the UT school system in 2021 and is now known as UT Southern.