BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Missouri Baptist University men's tennis earned a historic 4–3 victory over McKendree on Saturday at Belleville East High School, marking the first win over the Bearcats in program history.

The Spartan men improved to 13–3 on the season, while McKendree fell to 8–10. On the women's side, Missouri Baptist dropped a 7–0 decision, moving to 7–8 overall.

Missouri Baptist set the tone early on the men's side by securing the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Strahinja Radanovic and Arkhip Tokmakov earned a 7–5 victory at No. 2, while Ruslan Anurev and Omar Farahat followed with a 7–6 win at No. 3 to give the Spartans the early advantage.

In singles play, the Spartans battled in a tightly contested match that featured four three-set contests. Luca Ebenriter delivered a key straight-set win at No. 1, 6–3, 6–4, while Ruslan Anurev added another point with a 7–5, 6–2 victory at No. 3.

Arkhip Tokmakov ultimately clinched the match for Missouri Baptist, rallying for a 3–6, 6–4, 10–5 win at No. 5 to secure the decisive fourth point and seal the historic victory.

"We've been so close in the past to beating McKendree, so this felt so good," head coach Scott Goodyear said. "The guys really wanted this and it showed. It was a great performance!"

On the women's side, Missouri Baptist faced a strong McKendree lineup that swept all three doubles matches to claim the early point.

In singles, the Spartans pushed several matches to deciding sets, including at No. 2, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6, but were unable to convert as McKendree completed the 7–0 result.

Yvonne Shannon battled to a three-set match at No. 2, while Lucia Rubio and Jocelynn Carmody also forced third sets at No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, highlighting a competitive effort despite the final score.