DURANT, Okla. – For the second straight day, it came down to the final match. And for the second straight day, the Mustangs came up short, falling 4-3 to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.

"We put ourselves in a position to win again and just couldn't finish," MSU Texas head Coach Scott Linn said.

The Mustangs found themselves behind early, dropping the doubles point after the duo of Juan Scoppetta/Manuel Pilotto upended Alex Martinez Roca/Alberto Diaz 6-4.

MSU Texas earned wins in two of the first three singles matches to tie it up at 2-2. Jean Muniz continued his torrid start to the season, improving to 4-1 with a straight set win at No. 6. After No. 34 Scoppetta piloted his way past Ben Westwick 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2, No. 43 Alex Martinez Roca evened it up with a three-set win at the number three spot. Martinez Roca did it the hard way, losing the first set before taking the next two.

The Savage Storm grabbed a brief 3-2 advantage when freshman Alexandrey Crepy lost at No. 5 in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.

In a battle of ranked players at No. 1, 5th ranked Palacios got the better of 9th ranked Pilotto, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to again tie the match, this time at 3-3.

"Angel (Palacios) and Alex (Martinez Roca) did a great job of making adjustments and keeping momentum as the match went on," Linn said. 

Benji Finet's win at No. 5, in which he rallied from a set down, clinched the win for the Savage Storm.

Doubles
No. 1 – Angel Palacios/Ben Westwick def. Benji Finet/Danrich Kruger 6-2
No. 2 – Juan Scoppetta/Manuel Pilotto def. Alex Martinez Roca/Alberto Diaz 6-4
No. 3 – Jason Roberts/Milos Vuckovic def. Alexandre Crepy/Abhiram Venkatachalam 6-2
 
Singles
No. 1 – No. 5 Angel Palacios def. No. 9 Manuel Pilotto 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 – No. 34 Juan Scoppetta def. Ben Westwick 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 – No. 43 Alex Martinez Roca def. Milos Vuckovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 – Danrich Kreuger def. Alexandre Crepy 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 – Benji Finet def. Abhiram Vehnkatachalam 1-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 – Jean Muniz def. Jason Roberts 6-2, 6-1
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (6, 2, 3, 4, 1, 5)
 
UP NEXT
A showdown with Division I UT Arlington on Wednesday.