THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS – No. 18 Midwestern State claimed its third overall and first Lone Star Conference regular season championship since 2006 with an 8-1 victory over No. 41-ranked UT Permian Basin. The Mustangs join the 2001 and 2002 squads with an unblemished record in league play.
 
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 18-5 overall and secured the No. 1 seed at the Lone Star Conference Championships in Corpus Christi next Friday and Saturday.
 
"It's a credit to the players and the staff around this program, the assistant coaches, the strength training coaches, the athletic trainers, but especially the players," MSU Head Coach Scott Linn said.  "They're the ones who come in during the summer and train. They're the ones who get up at 6 a.m. in the fall. They're the ones that work tirelessly in practice. They're the ones that travel all over the country with us playing matches. I'm very proud for all that hard work to pay off for them.
 
"It's the first time in 12 years. There have been some great players to come through here. Coach Larry Wiggins had some really good teams. I'm proud that we can add to the tradition here at Midwestern State."
 
MSU swept all three doubles courts for the ninth-time this season, improving to 9-0 when grabbing the early 3-0 lead in the match. The No. 21-ranked tandem of sophomore Angel Palacios and freshman Alex Martinez Roca rattled off their 13th-straight win, downing Bob Rice and Daniel Colmenares, 8-1, at No. 3.
 
The duo of senior Vasudev Vijayaraman and sophomore Denney Norrie rolled through Marcos Silva and Felipe Dias, 8-2, at the No. 2 line, winning their 15th match of the season to push the advantage to 2-0.
 
Junior Dillon Pineda and freshman Nolan McCaig, the nation's 17th-ranked doubles team, knocked off Raul Stevens and Jordan Minjoot, 8-3, at No. 1 to complete the sweep.
 
In singles, McCaig snared Sanchez, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 4 for his 17th win of the season to stretch the lead to 4-0 before Palacios, the 75^th-ranked singles player, blasted Dias, 6-1, 6-2, to clinch the Mustangs first conference title in 16 years.
 
At the No. 2 flight, Pineda fought off Silva, 6-4, 6-2, to extend the MSU lead to 6-0 while No. 15-ranked Vijayaraman fell to seventh-ranked Stevens in a top 15 clash at No. 1, 6-3, 6-4.
 
Martinez Roca cracked the top-15 on the single season combined wins chart, winning his 36th-overall match, dropping Minjoot, 6-1, 6-1. The freshman's .810 winning percentage ranks 13th all-time in single season history.
 
Freshman Jean Muniz closed out the match in dramatic fashion, taking down Rice in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-2, 2-6, 12-10 to close out the MSU victory.
 
"I think the neatest thing that I've seen is that we've been top-25 in the nation for five years in a row," Linn added. "We've never dropped out of the top-25 which I think is amazing from a players standpoint and a program standpoint that we've been so consistent for so long, regardless of who's been in the lineup. It's a credit to our support staff as well. Kyle Williams, Gary Diehm, Trey Reed, Kurt Portmann and others have been here during that time. I'm very thankful to all the families as well that have helped add to the tradition of our program."
 
BOX SCORE
#18 Midwestern State (18-5, 3-0 LSC) def. #41 UT Permian Basin (9-12, 1-1 LSC)
Friday, April 13, 2018 | 2 p.m.
Wichita Falls, Texas
MSU Tennis Center
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #17 Dillon Pineda/Nolan McCaig (MSU) def. Raul Stevens/Jordan Minjoot (UTPB) 8-3
No. 2 – Vasudev Vijayaraman/Denney Norrie (MSU) def. Marcos Silva/Felipe Dias (UTPB) 8-2
No. 3 – #21 Alex Martinez Roca/Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Bob Rice/Daniel Colmenares (UTPB) 8-1
 
Singles
No. 1 – #7 Raul Stevens (UTPB) def. #15 Vasudev Vijayaraman (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – Dillon Pineda (MSU) def. Marcos Silva (UTPB) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 – #75 Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Felipe Dias (UTPB) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 – Nolan McCaig (MSU) def. Enrique Sanchez (UTPB) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 – Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) def. Jordan Minjoot (UTPB) 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 – Jean Muniz (MSU) def. Bob Rice (UTPB) 6-2, 2-6, 12-10
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 6)
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State returns to the courts on Friday, April 20, at the Lone Star Conference Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas.