SMU’s David Kuczer attempts a return during last week’s match. (Sarah Acosta)

No. 21 Virginia Commonwealth University defeated No. 42 SMU in men’s tennis on Sunday, 4-1. The Mustangs hit the road this Wednesday to face rival TCU in Fort Worth.

SMU was unable to top VCU, ending the match before the No. 1 and No. 6 singles matches finished. The Mustangs’ only singles win came at No. 2 when VCU’s Arnaud Le Cloerec (No. 54) retired at 7-5, 3-2. David Kuczer came from behind to take the lead in the second set before Le Cloerec bowed out.

SMU’s Alex Skrypko and Chris Hooshyar were both ahead in their matches when they were called because VCU had already sealed the win. Skrypko dropped the first set 2-6 to Peter Olsak, but was making a comeback when the match was called at 5-2. The Mustang junior remains at No. 43 on the ITA national rankings.

No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles fell to VCU with Federico Murgier losing 6-1, 6-3 to Sergi Arumi and Oivind Alver falling to Sebastien Deridder 6-0, 7-5. Freshman Robin Faghen was unable to overcome Damien Lacombe at No. 5, losing in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.

The loss puts SMU at 4-5 for the season, not including conference play, which begins March 11, when the Mustangs host Tulsa.

SMU meets TCU on Wednesday in Fort Worth at 6:00 p.m.