WICHITA FALLS, Texas – 15th ranked Midwestern State suffered a 6-1 loss to Tyler Junior College on Friday afternoon at the MSU Tennis Center in the 2020 home opener.

The Apaches, ranked No. 2 in JUCO, and fresh off a second place finish at the NJCAA Division I National Championships, grabbed wins in five of six singles matches and clinched the doubles point to improve to 3-0. The Mustangs drop to 2-1

I have an expectation that when we get onto our courts, we are going to play with a ton of energy and a ton of focus," MSU Texas head coach Scott Linn said. "Today, we didn't do that and we lost."

The Apaches recorded back-to-back wins in the first two doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead, then rattled off four straight singles wins to grab a commanding 5-1 edge.

Taylor Gray recorded Midwestern State's lone singles win, fighting off Momoko Yoshimura at the number six line in three sets 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6).

"Taylor is playing more confident than she was last year," Linn said. "I think she is moving better and hitting her forehand more. She dug in when Yoshimura evened up the match and found a way to win."

Casie Curry fell in straight sets at the number one line 6-0, 6-1 to Emelie Schwarte and Lea Cizeron took the first set from Lucie Devier before dropping the next two in a back and forth match 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7).

Julie Khamula finished off the match for visiting Tyler Junior College with a three-set thriller against Emilija Segetlija 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (12-10). Segetlija fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to force the super tiebreaker.

"Ema and Lea didn't win their matches but they fought back," Linn said. "Both played third sets and put themselves in a good position to win the super breaker. I think that was a wonderful sign that they weren't going to give in and if that can be our identity as a program, I can live with that for awhile."

Box Score
No. 2 Tyler Junior College (3-0) def. No. 15 Midwestern State (2-1)

Doubles
No. 1 – Helena Jansen/Emelie Schwarte (TJC) def. Ashley Ramirez/Taylor Gray (MSU) 6-3
No. 2 – Lucie Devier/Momoko Yoshimura (TJC) def. Lea Cizeron/Casie Curry (MSU) 6-0
No. 3 – Emilija Segetlija/Juliette Mary (MSU) def. Jadeh Chan/Yu Yue (TJC) 6-3

Singles
No. 1 – Emelie Schwarte (TJC) def. No. 43 Casie Curry (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 – Lucie Devier (TJC) def. Lea Cizeron (MSU) 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 3 – Helena Jansen (TJC) def. Ashley Ramirez (MSU) 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 – Yu Yue (YJC) def. Juliette Mary (MSU) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 – Julia Khamula (TJC) def. Emilija Segetlija (MSU) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (12-10)
No. 6 – Taylor Gray (MSU) def. Momoko Yoshimura (TJC) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (1, 3, 4, 2, 6, 5)

UP NEXT
The Mustangs are back in action tomorrow with matches against McMurry (10 a.m.) and Hardin-Simmons (3 p.m.)