ALMA - The Calvin men's tennis team dropped a narrow 5-4 decision at Alma Friday afternoon.

The loss puts the Knights into a narrow situation heading into a rivalry showdown at Hope Saturday morning.

If Calvin defeats Hope Saturday, the Knights will gain the #2 seed for next week's MIAA Tournament. If Calvin loses however, it will miss the tournament alltogether due to a tiebreaker situation between Calvin, Hope and Alma.

Calvin (8-8 overall, 3-2 MIAA) took a 2-1 lead after doubles play with sophomore Taylor Asfour (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and freshman Matt VanWinkle (St. Joseph/St. Joseph) winning 8-6 at No. 1 doubles while senior Tom Griffin (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) and junior Matt Buesing (Hoffman Estates, IL/Fremd HS) won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Alma (6-10 overall, 3-3 MIAA) fought back by winning four of the six singles flights to clinch the match.

Calvin's singles victories came at No. 1 and No. 3 singles with Buesing winning 6-3, 6-3 at one singles and VanWinkle winning 7-5, 6-2 at three singles.

Calvin's Saturday match at Hope is slated to start at 11 a.m.