THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Seniors Dillon Pineda and Denney Norrie combined for three wins on Senior Day as No. 20-ranked Midwestern State outlasted No. 37 Washburn, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the MSU Tennis Center.
 
The Mustangs won their sixth-straight match to improve to 16-3 on the year while the Ichabods fall to 12-6.

"Washburn is a good team," Scott Linn said. "They do a lot of things right on the court. We were able to weather the storm on our home court. We didn't panic when things didn't go our way early and worked through the situation. It was a tough match that could've gone either way. Alberto Diaz, Dillon Pineda and Alex Martinez Roca showed outstanding composure. We still have a ways to go to reach our goals.
 
Pineda and Norrie collected wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles flight to clinch the early lead before Pineda swung the momentum of the match with a come-from-behind win at the No. 3 singles line.
 
MSU collected the doubles point for the fourth-straight match to establish the early advantage. The tandem of Angel Palacios and Denney Norrie downed Chase Brill and Bradley Eidenmueller, 6-2, at the No. 3 flight before Nolan McCaig and Dillon Pineda rallied for a 6-4 win against Raul-Alin Dicu and Marc Roura Casi, 6-4, at the No. 2 line to win the point.
 
The Maroon and Gold's 21st-ranked pair of Ben Westwick and Alberto Diaz fell to No. 4-ranked Alejandro Valarezo Plaza and Paul Haase, 6-2, after the point was decided.
 
The Ichabods quickly seized the momentum in singles, winning first sets on three of the first four courts in singles.
 
WU's 18th-ranked Valarezo Plaza upset second-ranked Angel Palacios, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 1 flight to pull even, 1-1.
 
Pineda regained the lead for the Maroon and Gold, rallying from a first-set deficit to knocked off Haase, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 3 line, but the Ichabods again drew even as McCaig suffered a three-set loss to Eidenmueller, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 4.
 
Trailing by a set, sophomore Alex Martinez Roca turned the tide of the match with his second-set win. The Castelldefels, Spain, native posted 6-4, 6-4 wins in the second and third sets to put MSU Texas back on top for good, downing Dicu at the No. 2 flight.
 
Diaz clinched the win for the Maroon and Gold. The energetic sophomore was everywhere to secure the sixth-straight win for the Mustangs, besting Roura Casi, 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 5 line.
 
BOX SCORE
#20 Midwestern State (16-3) def. #37 Washburn (12-6)
Fri. April 19, 2019 | 3 p.m.
Wichita Falls, Texas
MSU Tennis Center
 
Doubles
No. 1 – #4 Alejandro Valrezo Plaza/Paul Haase (WU) def. #21 Ben Westwick/Alberto Diaz (MSU) 6-2
No. 2 – Nolan McCaig/Dillon Pineda (MSU) def. Raul-Alin Dicu/Marc Roura Casi (WU) 6-4
No. 3 – Angel Palacios/Denney Norrie (MSU) def. Chase Brill/Bradley Eidenmueller (WU) 6-2
 
Singles
No. 1 – #18 Alejandro Valarezo Plaza (WU) def. #2 Angel Palacios (MSU) 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 – Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) def. Raul-Alin Dicu (WU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 – Dillon Pineda (MSU) def. Paul Haase (WU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Bradley Eidenmueller (WU) def. Nolan McCaig (MSU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 – Alberto Diaz (MSU) def. Marc Roura Casi (WU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 – Chase Brill (WU) def. Ben Westwick (MSU) 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 1-0 (9)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6)

UP NEXT
MSU Texas travels to Abilene on Tuesday for a matchup with NCAA DI Abilene Christian. First serve is slated for 5 p.m.