ERIE, Pa. -- The Kutztown University men's tennis team had the unenviable task of going up against the three-time defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion Mercyhurst Lakers, Saturday, in its season-opener.

The Golden Bears fought all the way to the end, but the Lakers emerged with a 7-0 conference victory indoors at the Westwood Racquet Club.

Four Kutztown players made their collegiate debuts, with only sophomores Sebastian Arzipe and Kurt Abell (Sinking Spring, Pa./Conrad Weiser) having competed for the Maroon and Gold during its COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season.

Mercyhurst (2-4, 1-0 PSAC) cruised at first and second doubles to claim the one point available, but the Golden Bears (0-1, 0-1 PSAC) put a scare into the Lakers at No. 3 where freshmen Justin Gincauskas (Mississauga, Ontario/Cawthra Park Secondary) and Ethan Moyer (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser) took five games off of Hristo Plasheski and Kiran Richards.

The Lakers were tough to handle in singles play, too, recording straight-set victories in all six matches. Saturday marked Mercyhurst's sixth consecutive head-to-head win over the Bears going back to the 2015 PSAC semifinals.

Moyer won a trio of games in each set of a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Eli Dykema at No. 6, while freshman Gonzalo Barcelo (San Pedro, Argentina/Nuestra Senora del Socorro) and Arizpe won three games in the second set of their respective matches at No. 1 and No. 2.

Kutztown's western swing doesn't get any easier, Sunday, when it faces Edinboro at 1:30 p.m. The Fighting Scots have finished runner-up to Mercyhurst in each of the last three PSAC championships and the two teams have faced each other in every PSAC title match since 2015. The last team not named Edinboro or Mercyhurst to reach a PSAC final was KU in 2014.