TYLER, Texas -- The Midwestern State men's and women's tennis teams opened the fall portion of their season last weekend at the Tyler Invitational.

"I think it's good that we came out and were able to play on the first weekend that you're allowed to play, said Head Coach Scott Linn. Practices are much different than matches."

On the men's side, Angel Palacios won his opening match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, before falling to Luke Simkiss (Unattached) in the flight 1 semifinals. The senior then upended Sander Jans (Seward CC), 7-6, 7-6 to finish in third. Ben Westwick took home second place in flight 2. The sophomore cruised into the finals with a pair of straight set victories before falling 6-1, 6-0 to Jeff Guerrero (Tyler Junior College). 

"There were some good signs on the men side. I thought Angel Palacios competed well in singles. So did Ben Westwick. But we have some work to be done," added Coach Linn.

Brice Bradshaw claimed third in flight 9 after Oscar Ferrero (University of Texas at Tyler) retired during the second set. Bradshaw took home the first set, 6-3. 

In flight 3, Alex Martinez Roca finished in fourth while teammate Alberto Diaz dropped both of his matches. 

Jean Muniz lost his opening round match in flight 4, 6-1, 6-2 to Stevie Young (University of Texas at Tyler) before advancing to the consolation semifinals when Gabriel Zuniga (St. Edwards) was forced to retire in the second set. 

Abhiram Venkatachalam and Quentin Scharfenberg bowed out in the consolation semifinals in their respective flights. 

In men's doubles, Palacios/Martinez Roca and Muniz/Bradshaw finished in fourth while Diaz/Scharfenberg brought home third following an injury default. 

On the women's side, Ashley Ramirez won the flight 1 consolations with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Marina Vigil of St. Mary's. Ramirez won consecutive matches following a first round loss to the eventual champion, Isabella Dunlap (University of Central Oklahoma). Emilija Visic followed a similar route as Ramirez, dropping her first round match in flight two before rattling off a pair of wins in consolations.

Lea Cizeron and Juliette Mary each won quarterfinal matches in their respective flights before losing consecutive matches to take fourth. Emilija Segetlija lost her first round match to Liz Aristizabal (Seward CC), 4-6, 7-6(9), 10-3, before earning back-to-back 7-5, 6-3 wins to finish in fifth. 

In flight six, Emily Ineson finished in third after defeating Lotte Lesscher (University of Central Oklahoma), 6-3, 2-6, 10-4. 

In women's doubles, Ramirez/Visic battled back after a first round loss to claim fifth. In flight two, Cizeron/Ineson took sixth. Segetija/Mary lost their opening match before ending with a walkover. 

Coach Linn was impressed with how the women performed.

"Ashley Ramirez and Emilija Visic did a great job of leading our team in top flights in singles and in doubles. And as a group, they did a wonderful job of competing well."

The Maroon and Gold host the MSU Texas Invitational on September 20-21.