The No. 55 Harding men's tennis team dropped a close match to No. 8 Southern Arkansas, 4-2, in the conference opener in Magnolia on Monday (April 11). Harding falls to 8-7 on the season and 0-1 in conference while Southern Arkansas improves to 16-4 overall and 1-1 in conference.
 
The Bisons continued their dominance in doubles, winning the doubles point for the 13^th time in 15 matches. The No 34-ranked doubles team of Arthur Bellan and Dani Ortiz took down the No. 3-ranked doubles team in Division II at No. 1, 6-2. The win was tied for the highest ranked doubles team that a Harding pair have beaten. After the Muleriders took the match at No. 3, No. 42-ranked Alvaro De Lorenzo and Morgan Salvan secured the point for the Bisons with a 6-4 win at No. 2.
 
The Muleriders took the first two singles matches before a lightning delay stopped play on all courts for a while. When the teams returned to the court, Ortiz picked up his second win over a nationally ranked opponent, defeating No. 56 Stuart Rehfuss 7-5, 6-4 at No. 1. The Muleriders took the final two matches to take the match 4-2.
 
The Bisons will return to action on Thursday in Searcy against No. 66 Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.