SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's tennis team, the nation's top-ranked team, took down Benedict College, 5-0, in the opening round of the South Regional 1 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Lions, the South Region No. 1 seed, opened up with a 3-0 lead following doubles to start things off.

The No. 3 doubles pair of Francisco Aparicio and Oskar Nurmio earned a clean 8-0 win over Justin Payton and Malek Selmen.

Alberto Barroso-Campos and Alex Theiler followed with an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, taking down Nathanial Pinkney and Quentin Eloise.

Jaime Bueno and Egor Panyushkin added the final doubles point, taking an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles. The duo downed Takudswa Muswere and Zibusiso Ndimande.

In singles, Bueno started out with a dominate 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles over Quentin Eloise, giving Saint Leo their fourth point.

The match was clinched when Guillaume Vanelven took No. 4 singles over Ndimande, 6-0, 6-1.

Saint Leo, 23-1, will play the winner of the No. 4/5 match which will feature West Florida and Lynn.

Benedict concludes its season with a 15-9 record.

Benedict Sports Information