No. 45 Midwestern State at Western New Mexico

Friday, March 25 – 10 a.m.
WNMU Tennis Courts (Silver City, N.M.)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 7-1

No. 45 Midwestern State at UT Permian Basin

Saturday, March 26 – 12 p.m.
Bush Tennis Center (Midland, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 9-0

SILVER CITY, N.M. – Midwestern State has a big Lone Star Conference weekend with matches against Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin. MSU faces WNM on Friday, March 25, at 10 a.m.

The Mustangs then head to Midland, Texas, to face the Falcons on Saturday, March 26. The match kicks-off at noon at the Bush Tennis Center.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

The Mustangs are 8-5 on the season and propelled to No. 41 in the ITA's national rankings. MSU has won four consecutive matches since March 13. The team secured their first road victory with a 5-2 defeat of Southeastern Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Alex Martinez Roca ranks 20th in the nation and holds a 5-1 record from the top line. After falling to Takeshi Taco of Cowley County on March 2, the senior recorded four straight victories. The Spaniard is 1-0 in LSC play after posting a victory against UAFS. He beat out the 47th-ranked Manuel Pilotto for his first victory over another ranked opponent.

Martinez Roca and Ben Westwick top the nation in doubles play. The duo has a 10-1 record, including a victory another ranked pair (No. 9 Francisco Oliveira and Santiago Kearney of Ouachita Baptist). Their only loss was at the hands of No.11 Southern Arkansas. The Mustang pair rebounded with four wins after the loss on March 12. Martinez Roca is 10-1 in all doubles competitions while Westwick is 10-3.

Westwick is 5-7 for the season in singles play. The junior is 3-2 at the No. 3 spot for MSU, claiming three straight wins last week against Emporia State, Hastings and UAFS. The Houston, Texas, product is 0-2 versus nationally ranked opponents.

Brice Bradshaw is 8-4 on the singles side, winning the past five match-ups. The sophomore is 7-3 from the second spot and 1-0 at the No. 1 position. The Hoover, Ala., native earned his first victory over a nationally ranked opponent (No. 60 Stipan Madzar) in Wednesday's match versus SOSU.
 
He and Quentin Scharfenberg own a 3-3 record at the second line, dropping the last two matches. Bradshaw is 6-7 in all doubles competitions while Scharfenberg complied a 4-3 record.

Marcal Miret Avante dropped for the first time to No. 6 ranked Marko Nikolluk of Southern Arkansas on March 12. The freshman still leads the team with an 9-1 tally on the year. He is 4-1 playing at the third position for the Mustangs and remains undefeated at the fourth and fifth lines. The Spaniard won four matches in three-sets this season. He and Stephen Slocombe own a 4-6 tally at No. 3 doubles.

Charles Heffernan suffered his first singles loss to Taiyo Hirano of Cowley County on March 2 and later fell in the No. 8 Ouachita Baptist and No. 11 Southern Arkansas. The junior is 9-3 overall and rides a four-match streak. The Australian holds a 3-1 tally at the No. 4 spot and a 5-1 record at the No. 5 position.

Stefan Andrei is 6-5 while playing from five of the six singles lines. The freshman is 0-5 at No. 4 but is 3-0 from the No. 6 spot. He won the last four competitions, including a three-set takedown over Marcus Del Rosario of Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Romanian is undefeated in Lone Star Conference play.

AT THE HELM

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 176-89 (.664) 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 MUSTANGS

Western New Mexico has eight wins and four loss in their 2022 season. The Mustangs are undefeated at home with 7-0 defeats of New Mexico Military Institute and Sul Ross State. WNM last victory was Tuesday, March 15 at Colorado Mesa.

Jonathan Vega is 8-3 at the top line for Western New Mexico. The sophomore from Fort Worth pairs with Javier Romero to tally a 6-4 record for the season. The duo is 4-4 at the No. 1 spot and undefeated at the second position. Romero is 2-4 at the No. 3 singles line.

Joaquin Delpino is 3-3 at the second spot and has one win at the top position. The junior Argentinian and Yu Jhe Du tally a 2-3 record at the second doubles spot. Du is 3-2 at No. 4 and has a 2-2 tally from the third line.

Brendan Lock leads the Mustangs with a 9-3 singles record. The sophomore from Wyoming is 4-1 at No. 5 and 4-2 from the sixth line. He and Rodrigo Mere control a 5-4 record at the third doubles spot.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS

UT Permian Basin tallied a 6-2 record with one home win against the University of the Southwest on Feb. 12. That started a six-match streak for the Falcons. Their last win was versus Sul Ross State on March 17. UTPB opens LSC play on Thursday against Dallas Baptist.

Enrique Sanchez reached the No. 70 spot in the ITA National Singles Rankings this week. The senior is 2-2 from the top spot for the Falcons. He collaborates with Fernando Siqueira to remain undefeated at the third doubles line. Siqueira is 3-1 in singles play with a 2-0 tally at No. 5.

Timon Kohler is the only player with four singles wins for UT Permian Basin. The freshman from Switzerland has two wins at the third spot to push to his 4-2 record. He won the last four matches at the fourth, third and sixth lines.

Senior Jorge Garcia's only wins this season were at the second line while freshman Jonah Neumaier also holds a 2-0 tally at No. 4.

Hector Flores is undefeated with two victories at the No. 6 spot. The junior is 5-2 on the doubles side, marking a 4-2 tally with junior Patryk Kosinski.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Midwestern State is 7-1 in all matches against Western New Mexico since the series began in 2008. MSU's only drop to WNM was in 2017 when No. 26 Western New Mexico defeated the No. 21 Mustangs. Since then Midwestern State claimed five matches over the Mustangs. MSU is 3-1 in conference play versus WNM and are 1-1 when playing in Silver City, N.M. They collected the solo road win in 2019.

MSU is undefeated against UT Permian Basin, holding a 9-0 record since 2014. The Mustangs have four LSC wins over the Falcons, the last coming in 2021 when they defeated UTPB 7-0. When playing on the road, Midwestern State is 3-0 over UT Permian Basin.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State returns to home play in two weeks to face No. 34 Northwest Missouri State at MSU Tennis Center. The Mustangs and the Bearcats battle on Friday, April 8, at 10 a.m.