Midwestern State at Collin College

Friday, Feb. 25 – 1 p.m.
Collin College Tennis Courts (Plano, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 11-4

Midwestern State at Southeastern Oklahoma State

Saturday, Feb. 26 – 11 a.m.
Southeastern Tennis Complex (Durant, Okla.)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 35-4

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State gears up for two big road matches this week. The Mustangs take on Collin College in Plano, Texas, and Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, Okla.

MSU faces the Cougars on Friday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. They then battle the Storm on Saturday Feb. 26 at 11 a.m.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

The Mustangs have just three matches under their belt after a slew of reschedules due to weather. The team is 2-1 with 7-0 wins over McMurry and Oklahoma Wesleyan. MSU's only loss was a close 3-4 against the top NJCAA school, Tyler Junior College.

No. 15 Alex Martinez Roca clinched his only singles battle of the season in three sets against TJC at the No.1 spot. He ranks third in the South Central Region singles. The senior and doubles partner, Ben Westwick, rank fourth in the nation. The duo is undefeated at the first line for the season.

No. 50 Stefan Andrei is 2-1 from the second, third and fourth singles spots. The freshman collected a No. 2 and No. 3 victory against McMurry and Oklahoma Wesleyan. Andrei's only drop was in three sets at No. 4 to Tyler Junior College's Alvaro Saint Martin. He currently ranks at No. 5 in the South Central Region.

He and Brice Bradshaw are 2-0 from the second doubles line. The pair notched back-to-back victories against TJC and OWU last week. Bradshaw also claimed a 6-2 win with Marcal Miret Avante against McMurry duo, Connor Hogan and Dylan Bryant.

Bradshaw is 2-1 on the singles side, playing from the first three spots. The sophomore tallied wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions against McMurry and Oklahoma Wesleyan. His only loss was at No. 3 against Tyler Junior College. Bradshaw ranks at No. 19 for the South Central Region.

Senior Jean Muniz, senior Brandon Wall and junior Charles Heffernan are all 2-0 with wins against McMurry and Oklahoma Wesleyan. Muniz claimed both victories from the No. 5 spot while Heffernan and Wall went 1-0 at the fourth and sixth lines.

Wall and Miret Avante are 1-1 from the third doubles spot for the Mustangs. The two took a 4-6 drop against TJC and recovered a win at OWU on Saturday.

THE MAN IN CHARGE

Scott Linn enters his 12th season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's and women's tennis programs in 2021-22 after guiding the Mustangs to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances since arriving in Wichita Falls in the fall of 2010. The Mustangs have thrived under Linn's leadership as he revived the program to the highest level. Under Linn, the men's program posted a 172-84 (.672) mark with seven NCAA Tournament appearances while advancing to the national quarterfinals in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 after a five-year absence from the postseason.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS

The No. 5 ranked Collin College is 3-2 on the 2022 season with losses against DII sides Cameron and Harding. The Cougars collected their first win of the season over Texas A&M University-Texarkana on Feb. 18, where they dusted the Eagles 7-2. CC followed up with back-to-back wins against New Mexico Military Institute and Iowa Central Community College.

CC is second in the NJCAA Region II rankings behind Tyler Junior College.

Freshman Djordje Kurcubic leads the Cougars as the No. 17 ranked singles player in junior college. Freshman Jackson Fenton follows at the 26th spot in the nation. Together, the duo sits 22nd on the national doubles list.

Fellow freshman Tristan Vigneron Scattarregia ranks 31st for CC while freshman Luis Ching takes the 32nd spot. Ching and Edward Shteyn rank 13th on the doubles side while Vigneron Scatterregia and Marcus Kleckner sit at No. 23.

Sophomore Adrien Guibert rounds out the singles rankings at No. 41.

SCOUTING THE STORM

Southeastern Oklahoma State is 2-1 after playing three Lone Star Conference teams to start out the 2022 season. The Storm collected back-to-back wins against UT Permian Basin and Dallas Baptist on Feb. 7 and Feb. 18. SEO's solo loss came at the hands of No. 20 UT Tyler, where they dropped 3-4. Before playing MSU on Saturday, Southeastern Oklahoma faces West Alabama in Edmond, Okla., on Thursday, Feb. 24.

The Savage Storm were picked fourth the in MIAA-South Preseason Poll with 12 points.

Manuel Pilotto posted two singles wins in the first two matches of the season. The senior gathered a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 2 against UTPB and followed with a 6-1, 6-1 takeover at No. 3 versus DBU. He went 1-1 in doubles play with two different partners at the two and three spots.

Sophomores Gen Naraya and Marcus Del Rosario also went 2-0 at the fourth and sixth singles line against the Falcons and the Patriots. Del Rosario claimed a doubles win with Pilotto at No. 3 against Dallas Baptist.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Midwestern State leads the series with Collin College 11-4 over 25 years. The Mustangs ride a ten-match win streak against the Cougars since 2005. MSU has not lost a match to CC since 2004. Midwestern State is 6-2 when playing in Plano, Texas, with the two losses coming in 1997 and 2004. The last time the two teams faced-off in 2020, MSU walked away with a 6-1 victory. Jean Muniz and Brice Bradshaw were two of six Mustangs to clinch their singles battle.

Midwestern State is 35-4 against Southeastern Oklahoma State, with the series beginning in 1979. The two teams are former conference foes with MSU taking a 20-0 advantage over SEOU while they were a member of the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs are 14-2 when playing on the road versus the Storm, with the last victory coming in 2018 against the No. 31 Storm. Midwestern State dropped their 2020 match-up in Durant by 3-4, but rebounded last season with a 4-0 victory over No. 18 Southeastern Oklahoma in Wichita Falls.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State returns to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a full slate of matches next week at MSU Tennis Center. MSU takes on Cowley County CC in a make-up match on March 2 at 1 p.m. Next is the face-off against Southwest Baptist on March 4 at 1 p.m. The Mustangs finish the week on March 5 by taking on Washburn at 10 a.m.