THE RUNDOWN
LAS VEGAS – No. 20-ranked Midwestern State began play in Las Vegas with a 5-4 upset of 14th-ranked Rollins at the Darling Tennis Center on Monday. Senior Vasudev Vijayaraman clinched the second-straight match for the Mustangs, winning in three-sets at the No. 1 singles line.
 
MSU improves to 7-2 with the win and continues play tomorrow against No. 15 Hawaii-Hilo.
 
After splitting the first two doubles matches, Vijayaraman and sophomore partner Denney Norrie secured a crucial 2-1 lead for MSU with a tiebreaker victory over Atakan Gezer and Ziad Melhaoui, 9-8 (1), at the No. 2 spot. The tandem put together their fourth-straight win to improve to 8-1 on the year. Freshman Alex Martinez Roca and sophomore Angel Palacios put the Mustangs on the board with an 8-4 win against Frederick Danielson and Daniel Ferl at the No. 3 flight.
 
The Tars swung the momentum in their favor early in the singles matches, winning first sets on four of the six courts. Freshman Jean Muniz was unable to overcome Cody Gubin, 6-3, 6-3 to tie the match before Palacios ran through Francesco Racanelli, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 to regain the lead, 3-2. Martinez Roca pulled the Mustangs within a point, downing Melhaoui in three sets, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, but back-to-back wins by Rollins on the No. 2 and 4 courts tied the match at four.
 
For the second-straight match, Vijayaraman was the last one standing in a 4-4 draw. After dropping the first set to De Fraia, 2-6, the senior rallied for a 7-5, 6-4 win in the final two sets to secure the match.
 
BOX SCORE
#20 Midwestern State (7-2) def. #14 Rollins (5-6)
Monday, March 12, 2018 | 2 p.m.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Darling Tennis Center
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Nicolo De Fraia/Guillermo Nicolas (RC) def. Dillon Pineda/Nolan McCaig (MSU) 8-6
No. 2 – Vasudev Vijayaraman/Denney Norrie (MSU) def. Atakan Gezer/Ziad Melhaoui (RC) 9-8 (1)
No. 3 – Alex Martinez Roca/Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Frederick Danielson/Daniel Ferl (RC) 8-4
 
Singles
No. 1 – Vasudev Vijayaraman (MSU) def. Nicolo De Fraia (RC) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 – #19 Guillermo Nicolas (RC) def. Dillon Pineda (MSU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 – Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Francesco Racanelli (RC) 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – Atakan Gezer (RC) def. Joshua Sundaram (MSU) 2-6, 7-6, 6-4
No. 5 – Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) def. Ziad Melhaoui (RC) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 – Cody Gubin (RC) def. Jean Muniz (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (6, 3, 5, 2, 4, 1)

UP NEXT
Midwestern State returns to the courts tomorrow, taking on No. 15 Hawaii-Hilo. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas.