ARLINGTON, Texas – Midwestern State met its match in the final battle of the year falling to St. Mary's -- 4-1 -- in the the NCAA Division II South Central Region semifinalsat the Arlington Tennis Center.

Angel Palacios collected the only point for the No. 26-ranked Mustangs in his win at the second singles line as the Mustangs close the campaign with a 10-8 record.
 
The Rattlers (14-4) started strong with a 6-3 defeat at number one doubles. Alex Martinez Roca and Ben Westwick played their second match together in the season, the first where the duo took down the STMU pair on April 23. This time around, Jeremiah Sanchez and James Finnigan came out on top.
 
The Mustangs rebounded with a 6-2 defeat by Palacios and Alexandre Crepy over Jake Faryniarz and Saisaurav Konakanchi. Palacios and Crepy only played together on April 23, where they dropped the battle against the Rattlers. With the rebound, the second line pushed for a fight for the doubles point at the third spot.
 
Nicolas Llosa and Leon Hein secured the first point as they stumped Brice Bradshaw and Jean Muniz 6-2. This is the first time Bradshaw and Muniz saw time together on the court at the third line. St. Mary's clinched the first point of the match.
 
The Rattlers continued to hold sway through the fifth singles spot. Muniz fell to Finnigan 6-3, 6-4 for the 2-0 lead for St. Mary's. Muniz previously defeated Alex Gee to clinch the match for MSU against STMU in a three set thriller in the final match of the regular season.
 
Palacios came in clutch with a three set victory over Faryniarz at the second singles line. Set one went to the Rattlers' freshman 6-1 and the Mustang senior rebounded with 6-1 score in set two and 6-0 set three win. Now Midwestern State stood down by only one point.
 
At the top spot, No. 16 Sanchez took down No. 20 Martinez Roca in a tough battle. The LSC Tennis Player of the Year grabbed a 6-4, 6-2 win for the third notch for the Rattlers. The two played to three sets in the match at MSU Tennis Center. Sanchez was the victor again after claiming the first and last sets.
 
The final nail came from number four singles as Llosa overtook Crepy 6-1, 6-1. Last time out, the freshman fell to Finnigan in the narrow 4-3 win on April 23. This ended the match with St. Mary's going four and Midwestern State for one.
 
Ryan Koth and Westwick played to three sets in their third singles unfinished match. Westwick had set one 6-2 while Koth took the second 6-4. Alberto Diaz had a set up on Hein in six singles. The junior finished set one 6-4 and was winning the second 5-3 when the match was called.
 
The Rattlers will move on to face Cameron in the Regional Finals on Tuesday, May 11. The winner is inducted into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
The Mustangs season ends in the worse way at the South Central Regional Semifinals. The team will continue play in Fall 2021 and compete in the Lone Star Conference season in the Spring of 2022.