WARSAW, IND. – Manchester University got its 2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference slate off to a sparkling start Wednesday, April 6.

The Spartans, improving to 1-4 overall, won four of six singles match-ups and two of three in doubles action against Defiance College at Warsaw's Fitness and Tennis Center during a 6-3 team victory.

An underclassman quartet of sophomores Isaac Collis (Alexandria, Ind.), Kyler Love (North Webster, Ind.) and Garrett Bear (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Connor Eichenauer (North Manchester, Ind.) rebounded the Black and Gold from a pair of losses at number one and two singles. Bear, Eichenauer and Love all picked up straight-set victories at their respective four-through-six slots, and Collis rallied from a 6-4 first set defeat to win in three at number three. In doubles play, after junior Stratton Smith (New Palestine, Ind.) and sophomore Spencer Thomas (Yorktown, Ind.) were edged 8-6 in a thriller at the top spot, the group answered the call again, surrendering only one game between them for two victories.

A busy stretch of four duals in five days continues for MU Thursday, April 7. They go to Mishawaka, Ind., and either the outdoor courts at Bethel College or Knollwood Country Club in Granger, Ind., for a 2:30 p.m. double-dual with the Spartans' women's squad.

NOTE: Bear takes a modest set of back-to-back victories into the meeting with the Pilots. His 2-1 record leads the squad's singles' ladder.