The men’s and women’s tennis teams found a tougher battle against Bradley University than they expected Tuesday, but both teams fought off the Braves for their final home win of the season.

“The girls had a better performance, but the boys had a better battle,” head coach Brian Holzgrafe said.

The men faced nearly four hours of competition against Bradley, taking a 4-3 win, while the women won 4-0.

“We had an invitational in the fall and there was a display of strong teams, but we were one of those two squads,” Holzgrafe said. “Drew (Barrett, Bradley head coach,) used that as as a motivational tactic.

“They had nothing to lose. We were thinking Bradley sucks and were an inexperienced youth. And to have, especially on senior day, have the battle we did, it’s absolutely a blessing. It made this team deeper and more caring. At this level, it’s all character.”

The men began with singles play, but after suffering losses at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, the team was forced to pair off for doubles competition.

Lukasz Pluta took a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 while No. 5 Jason Braun won 6-1, 6-1 and No. 6 Jeff Rhodes won 7-5, 7-5.

“It wasn’t our best stuff at all. It varied from number to number,” Holzgrafe said. “There was not a team effort in singles.”

Brandon Blankenbaker and Rhodes paired off for the first time in doubles, defeating Bradley 8-1 while Pluta and Andy Baker won the second doubles matchup 8-1 for the Panther win.

“It came down to two or three doubles, which is not our strength,” Holzgrafe said.