ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's tennis team earned its first win against a Division I opponent in almost five years as the Pioneers beat UNC Asheville 4-3 in an exhibition match Thursday afternoon at the Asheville Racquet Club.

The Pioneers picked up three straight-set wins in singles to take a 3-2 lead over the Bulldogs (1-1), then waited for Dmitry Bezborodov to close out a three-set win at number-one singles to secure their first win against a Division I team since beating George Mason 4-3 on March 7, 2016 at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Asheville went up 1-0 after doubles, but Kenta Kondou earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Finlay Ray McFayden at flight six to knot the match at 1-1. A 7-5, 6-3 victory at flight five from Manuel Guedes de Almeida evened the match at 2-2, and Frank Bonacia locked up a third point by defeating Sira Daosaengsawang 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 at flight four. With the match even at 3-3, Bezborodov beat Oli Nolan 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at flight one to give the Pioneers the win.

Tusculum's lone win in doubles also came at flight one, where Leon Huck and Nemanja Subanovic earned a 6-4 victory over Nolan and Daosaengsawang. The Bulldogs won the other two flights by identical 6-4 scores to win the doubles point.

The Pioneers (3-1) will open their South Atlantic Conference schedule on Saturday, Feb. 27 with a 2 p.m. match at Anderson.