THE RUNDOWN
PUEBLO – No. 19-ranked Midwestern State won its third-straight match with a 6-3 win No. 31-ranked Metro State-Denver on Saturday at the Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex in Colorado. The Mustangs improve to 11-4 overall and 7-3 against regionally ranked foes.
 
Sophomore Angel Palacios picked up his 13th-straight singles win, besting Daniel llorente, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 3 flight. The Piedras Negras native matched Victor Vidal (2001-04) and Michael Mills (1999-02) for the second-longest winning streak in program history, behind only Michael Turner's 16-consecutive wins in 1999. Saturday marked only the second-time during the streak the reigning Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year was stretched to three sets.
 
MSU split the first two doubles matches before Palacios and freshman Alex Martinez Roca downed Callum Hayes and Kacey Walisundara, 8-3, at No. 3 to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead going into singles. Senior Vasudev Vijayaraman and sophomore Denney Norrie improved to 11-4 on the year with an 8-1 win against Alejandro Martinez-Morilla and Llorente at No. 2.
 
The Roadrunners briefly captured the lead in singles, getting first set wins on four courts, including a pair of straight-set wins on the No. 1 and No. 2 lines, to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Maroon and Gold underclassmen responded to close out the match. Roca beat Walisundara, 6-1, 6-0, for his 10th win of the spring, followed quickly by McCaig with a 7-5, 6-4 decision against Morilla at No. 4. Palacios, the No. 26 singles player in the nation, rallied from an early hole to take down Llorente and clinch the win for MSU. Freshman Jean Muniz improved to 7-0 at the No. 5 flight, defeating Hayes in a super-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.
 
BOX SCORE
#19 Midwestern State (11-4) def. #31 Metro State-Denver (9-7)
Saturday, March 24, 2018 | 11 a.m.
Pueblo, Colo.
Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #37 Joey Tscherne/Josh Graetz (MSUD) def. #36 Dillon Pineda/Nolan McCaig (MSU) 8-1
No. 2 – Vasudev Vijayaraman/Denney Norrie (MSU) def. Daniel Llorente/Alejandro Martinez-Morilla (MSUD) 8-1
No. 3 – Alex Martinez Roca/Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Calum Hayes/Kacey Walisundara (MSUD) 8-3
 
Singles
No. 1 – #16 Josh Graetz (MSUD) def. #28 Vasudev Vijayaraman (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 – Joey Tscherne (MSUD) def. Dillon Pineda (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – #26 Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Daniel Llorente (MSUD) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 – Nolan McCaig (MSU) def. Alejandro Martinez-Morilla (MSUD) 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 – Jean Muniz (MSU) def. Callum Hayes (MSUD) 6-4, 3-6, 10-6
No. 6 – Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) def. Kacey Walisundara (MSUD) 6-1, 6-0
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (1, 2, 6, 4, 3, 5)
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State returns to the courts on Thursday, March 29, for a regional matchup with St. Edward's in Austin. First serve is set for noon.