CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Fourth-seeded University of Pikeville was eliminated from the AAC tournament after a 4-2 quarterfinal loss to Montreat (N.C.) College on Monday at Champions Club.
 
The decision ended the first season for the Bears under Coach Daniel Christian, who guided UPIke to a fourth-place finish in the AAC standings.
 
The Cavaliers took the doubles point to open play, winning two of the three matches.
 
UPike won at No. 1 when Ahmed Hassairi and Haithem Robbouche beat Julian Stolevski and Paul Saemann 6-2. But Montreat took the other two matches, winning at No. 2 where Lucas Descalzi and Vitor Monteiro beat Rafael Gonzalez and Alfonso Robinson 6-4, and at No. 3 when Fabrizio Moreno and Youssef Idboufous defeated Anton Hofmann and Matthew Rodgers 6-3.
 
In singles play, UPike won at No. 1 when Rabbouche beat Joaquin Hernandez 6-1, 6-0. The Bears also won at No. 6, as Gonzalez defeated Saemann 6-3, 6-0.
 
But Montreat won at No. 2, as Monteiro knocked off Robinson 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3, with Descalzi winning a three-set thriller 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over Hassairi, and at No. 5, where Idboufous beat Rodgers 6-3, 6-2.
 
At No. 4, UPike's Hofmann held a 7-6 (7-5), 4-3 lead over Moreno when the match was decided and this contest was stopped.
 
Academic honors: Earlier on Monday, the AAC announced its all-conference honors, where several Bears were named to the Academic All-Conference teams.
 
In order to qualify for the Academic All-Conference team, a student-athlete must have a 3.25 or higher grade point average, be at least a sophomore and have completed at least one term at their current school.
 
On the men's side, those honored were Muhammad Ghayur, Ahmed Hassairi, Hait Hemrabbouche, Anton Hofmann, Alfonso Robinson and Mateo Varga.
 
The women's tennis program had a league-high 10 honorees. They were Azul Barrios, Yazmin Barrios, Teegan Carpenter, Elizabeth Davis, Kennedy Gauze, Lilia Jerry, Kylie Jones, Hanna Justice, Natalia Geraldine Salinas and Morgan Wallace.