THE RUNDOWN
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Midwestern State saw its dreams of a national championship fall to the wayside on Thursday, falling to No. 2 seed Columbus State, 5-0, in the NCAA II Quarterfinals at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
 
One of eight teams left standing, the Mustangs finish the season at 22-6, making their fifth appearance in the national quarterfinals and with the most single-season wins in the Scott Linn era.
 
For just the second time this season, the Mustangs were swept in doubles, falling into a 3-0 deficit against the Cougars.
 
The tandem of Denney Norrie and Vasudev Vijayaraman was bested by KP Pannu and Metei Avram, 8-1, at the No. 2 flight to open the match.
 
CSU extended the lead to 2-0 as the 40th-ranked pair of Alex Martinez Roca and Angel Palacios suffered an 8-2 setback at No. 3.
 
MSU's 15th-ranked duo of Nolan McCaig and Dillon Pineda were unable to complete the upset bid, falling to third ranked Alvaro Regalado and Zach Whaanga, 8-3, at the No. 1 line.
 
Unfortunately for the Maroon and Gold, it was much of the same in singles as the Mustangs were unable to dig out of the hole.
 
At the No. 6 line, Vargas topped Jean Muniz, 6-2, 6-2 to extend the advantage to 4-0 before second-ranked Pannu fought off a strong start from Vijayaraman to clinch the match, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 1.
 
The lone bright point in singles came from McCaig who took the first set from Paul Sprengelmeijer, 6-3, at No. 4.
 
MSU was down a set on all but one court as the match was decided.
 
NOTES
- Midwestern State finishes the 2018 campaign at 22-6, the second most wins in program history behind only 1998's 23-win campaign.
- Sophomore Angel Palacios' 43 win season ranks fourth on MSU's single season combined wins list while his 21 wins in singles and 22 wins in doubles rank fifth on both respective charts.
- Freshman Alex Martinez Roca's 42 win season ranks fifth on MSU's single-season combined wins list while his 21 wins in singles and doubles rank fifth and eighth, respectively.
 
BOX SCORE
#2 Columbus State (26-3) def. #16 Midwestern State (22-6)
Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 11 a.m.
Surprise, Arizona
Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #3 Alvaro Regalado/Zach Whaanga (CSU) def. #15 Dillon Pineda/Nolan McCaig (MSU) 8-3
No. 2 – KP Pannu/Matei Avram (CSU) def. Vasudev Vijayaraman/Denney Norrie (MSU) 8-1
No. 3 – Jorge Vargas/Arnold Kokulewski (CSU) def. #40 Alex Martinez Roca/Angel Palacios (MSU) 8-2
 
Singles
No. 1 – #2 KP Pannu (CSU) def. #13 Vasudev Vijayaraman (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 – #22 Zach Whaanga (CSU) vs. Dillon Pineda (MSU) 6-4, 3-4 unfinished
No. 3 – #67 Alvaro Regalado (CSU) vs. #73 Angel Palacios (MSU) 6-1, 2-3 unfinished
No. 4 – Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU) vs. Nolan McCaig (MSU) 3-6, 4-1 unfinished
No. 5 – #72 Matei Avram (CSU) vs. Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) 6-4, 5-2 unfinished
No. 6 – Jorge Vargas (CSU) def. Jean Muniz (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1); Singles (6, 1)