Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's tennis team started strong but faltered down the stretch in their first match since earning a No. 68 national ranking earlier this week, eventually falling to Florida Atlantic 5-2 at the UNF Tennis Complex.

The Ospreys (2-3) have now lost back-to-back matches since their upset win over then-29th-ranked South Alabama on Feb. 8.

Eduardo Pereira provided the only singles victory of the afternoon for UNF, which collected its second point in doubles by winning two of three matches against the Owls (4-2). Pereira's 6-4, 6-3 win over FAU's Marc Abdelnour was the seventh consecutive singles victory for the senior, who was named the A- Sun Player of the Week on Friday.

In doubles, Pereira and Gattiker teamed to upend FAU's Corey Smith and Olivier Sajous 8-1 at the No. 2 position, while Javier Ferrin and Adrian Escarate won 8-2 for the Ospreys at the No. 3 position.

The Ospreys battled down to the wire but couldn't pull the match out -- dropping two singles matches in three sets and two others in second-set tiebreaks.

"We came out strong in doubles, and we knew that was going to be a very important point," UNF head coach Igal Buberman said. "After a solid start in doubles, we began singles a little slowly and put ourselves down right away. We were able to battle it out but unfortunately came up just short. FAU is a talented team, and we expected it to be a 4-3 match either way. We keep improving each match, and I think we will be 100 percent by the time we start conference matches. The guys did a good job today."

UNF returns to action on Sunday at the UNF Tennis Complex when it plays host to Hofstra. Match time is set for 11 a.m.

Florida Atlantic 5, #68 North Florida 2

Singles competition
1. Eduardo Pereira (UNF) def. Marc Abdelnour (FAU) 6- 4, 6-3
2. #56 Olivier Sajous (FAU) def. Javier Ferrin (UNF) 6- 2, 7-6 (7-0)
3. Corey Smith (FAU) def. Graham Edgar (UNF) 6-2, 3- 6, 6-4
4. Joe Cadogan (FAU) def. Yuiti Lopes (UNF) 6-1, 6- 4
5. Karol Szmurlo (FAU) def. Kurt Gattiker (UNF) 6-4, 7- 6 (7-4)
6. Eddie Majcher (FAU) def. Adrian Escarate (UNF) 6- 0, 3-6, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Joe Cadogan/Marc Abdelnour (FAU) def. Yuiti Lopes/Alejandro Argumedo (UNF) 8-4
2. Kurt Gattiker/Eduardo Pereira (UNF) def. Corey Smith/Olivier Sajous (FAU) 8-1
3. Javier Ferrin/Adrian Escarate (UNF) def. Karol Szmurlo/Eddie Majcher (FAU) 8-2

Match Notes:
Florida Atlantic 4-2
North Florida 2-3; National ranking #68