SURPRISE, Ariz. -- No. 14 Midwestern State made a ton of history Wednesday night in the NCAA Division II Round of 16 at the Surprise Racquet and Tennis Complex.
The Mustangs claimed their first win of any kind at the finals then followed with four more to rout 12th-ranked California (Pa.) 5-1 to move on to the Thursday's national quarterfinal round.
Midwestern takes on 18th-ranked Southwest Baptist (Mo.), a 5-1 winner over Indianapolis (Ind.), Thursday at 3 p.m. (Central Time). SBU defeated the Mustangs 5-4 earlier this season.
The Mustangs extended their winning streak to 12 matches against NCAA Division II competition by taking control in doubles play.
Senior
Taylor Coffman and junior
Kayla Casey combined for an 8-3 win over the 12th-ranked duo of Jesse Burrell and Keifer Shaw at the No. 1 position just before
Paige Boykin and
Maddie Schorlemmer clinched an 8-2 win over Lena Dimmer and Veronika Mikulis at the No. 3 position.
The Vulcans (15-4) salvaged a victory at the No. 2 position as Ramona Czakon and Mariela Sarinana beat MSU's
Lindsay Nochowicz and
Lauren Pineda, 8-4.
The Mustangs rode some hot singles to quickly close out the match.
Sophomore
Courtney Anderson rolled to her 12th consecutive victory with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 decision over Sarinana at the No. 4 position. Anderson has now won or controlled a lead when the match ended in 25 of her last 26.
Sophomore
Paige Boykin extended a similar run closing out Alice Johns 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot for her 12th-straight victory over an NCAA Division II opponent. She has won or been ahead in each of her last 26 sets against the same foes.
Schorlemmer notched the clincher with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Dimmer at the No. 3 position.
Midwestern claimed wins in the first set of each singles match before California (Pa.)'s Keifer Shaw came back to split with
Kayla Casey at No. 1.
Coffman held a 7-5, 1-2 advantage for MSU over Czakon at No. 2, while freshman
Carrie Casey was up 6-4, 2-3 over Mikulis at No. 6.
Midwestern State improved to 18-6 on the season.
-- MSUMustangs.com --