LATHAM, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's tennis team battled nationally ranked opposition today at TriCity Fitness, but ultimately fell by a 5-2 score to No. 12 Babson in a competitive non-league matchup.

RPI opened the afternoon with a strong start in doubles play, earning one of the three doubles points to take an early lead. At the top spot, the tandem of Tasmay Shah and Tsubasa Okada delivered a decisive performance, defeating Sebastian Mendoza and Edward Wang by a 6-2 margin to put the Engineers on the board.

Babson responded in the remaining doubles matches, as Maxim Zlobinsky and Alex Merson edged Quoc-Uy Vo and Gustave Viennet, 6-4, at No. 2, while Max August Lidman and Louis Bourn claimed a 6-2 victory over Felix Puyplat and Aiden Atri at the third position, giving the Beavers a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play.

In singles competition, RPI earned two hard-fought victories, both coming in closely contested matchups that went the distance. At No. 2 singles, Okada rebounded after dropping the opening set to Mendoza, 6-4, before taking the second set 6-2 and closing out the match in a 1-0 third-set tiebreak.

Vo added the Engineers' second point at No. 3 singles, opening with a 6-2 first set against Ryan Patrick, conceding the second set 6-3, and then prevailing in the decisive tiebreak.

Babson secured the remaining singles points to clinch the match. At the top spot, Wang defeated Shah, 6-2, 6-2, while Zlobinsky posted a 6-1, 6-4 win over Viennet at No. 4 singles. Lidman followed with a straight-set victory over Puyplat, 6-4, 6-3, at the fifth position, and Sourish Gandhi completed the scoring with a 6-2, 6-3 result against Debarshi Sen at No. 6.

The Engineers will return to action on Saturday, hosting Middlebury at 2:00 p.m. as they continue their spring schedule.