THE RUNDOWN
DALLAS, Texas – Midwestern State continued its preseason exhibition slate on Sunday at DI SMU, taking a 7-0 loss at the SMU Tennis Complex. MSU Texas closes out its exhibition schedule on Tuesday at Cowley County CC.
 
Despite the 7-0 loss, the Mustangs were within two games of SMU on five courts, coming a tiebreaker shy of capturing the doubles point.
 
The Ponies took the first doubles match when the duo of Dillon Pineda and Nolan McCaig suffered a 6-4 loss to Tomas Vaise and Jan-Simon Vrbsky at the No. 1 flight.
 
The Maroon and Gold's pair of Denney Norrie and Angel Palacios captured a 7-5 win against Avery Pennywell and Blaise Fagan at No. 3.
 
MSU Texas eighth-ranked pair of Ben Westwick and Alberto Diaz needed a tiebreaker with Andrew Buhelos and Michael Smith to decide the doubles point. The nationally ranked tandem fell 7-5 in the breaker to allow SMU to secure the 1-0 lead.
 
SMU pushed the advantage to 2-0 when Carlos Sarrio, the No. 51 ranked DI player in the ITA/Oracle singles rankings, bested Palacios, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1.
 
McCaig battled Tommy Vaise in a pair of tight sets, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 4 before succumbing.
 
Vrbsky clinched the match for SMU, taking down Diaz, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 2 flight.
 
MSU Texas kept the remaining three singles courts within striking distance, but couldn't complete the comeback on the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 lines.
 
Roberto Rosales ousted Pineda, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 3 and Buhelos fought off sophomore Yaswanth Mylavarapu, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 5.
 
Sophomore Jean Muniz won the first set against Eddie Ross, 7-5, before falling in a super-set in the third, 10-6.
 
BOX SCORE
SMU def. #14 Midwestern State
Sun., Feb. 3, 2019 | 2 p.m.
Dallas, Texas
SMU Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Tomas Vaise/Jan-Simon Vrbsky (SMU) def. Dillon Pineda/Nolan McCaig (MSU) 6-4
No. 2 – Andrew Buhelos/Michael Smith (SMU) def. #8 Ben Westwick/Alberto Diaz (MSU) 7-6 (5)
No. 3 – Denney Norrie/Angel Palacios (MSU) def. Avery Pennywell/Blaise Fagan (SMU) 7-5
 
Singles
No. 1 – #51 Carlos Sarrio (SMU) def. Angel Palacios (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – Jan-Simon Vrbsky (SMU) def. Alberto Diaz (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 – Roberto Rosales (SMU) def. Dillon Pineda (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 – Tommy Vaise (SMU) def. Nolan McCaig (MSU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 – Andrew Buhelos (SMU) def. Yaswanth Mylavarapu (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 – Eddie Ross (SMU) def. Jean Muniz (MSU) 5-7, 7-5, 10-6
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 6)

UP NEXT
MSU Texas concludes exhibition play on Tues., Feb. 6, against Cowley County CC. First serve in Oklahoma City is slated for 3 p.m.