ARLINGTON, Texas -- No. 33 Midwestern State swept past St. Mary's in the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament semifinals Friday at the Arlington Tennis Center advancing to the finals for the 11th time.
The top-seeded Mustangs (17-7) secured the doubles point, then rattled off successive singles wins at flights five, four and one to claim the 4-0 victory.
Midwestern State, which has won 11 of their last 12 matches against NCAA Division II competition, is in search of the program's fifth overall postseason tournament title. The Mustangs advanced to the finals in the fifth consecutive season that an LSC Men's Tennis Championship was held. MSU won claimed titles in 2013, 2018 and 2019 while finishing as runner-up in 2017. The league did not hold a men's tennis tournament from 2014-16, the canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and rained out in 2021.
Brice Bradshaw and
Corbin Ford started the match on the right foot at No. 2 doubles. The duo defeated Niklas Knoerr and Nicholas Llosa for the second time this season. Bradshaw and Ford are 8-3 for the season with three consecutive wins.
Alex Martinez Roca and
Ben Westwick handed Jake Faryniarz and Pablo Munoz Baroja a 6-1 loss. This is the second time that the StMU pair fell to MSU. The Mustangs' fourth-ranked duo is 19-2 from No. 1 doubles for the year.
Charles Heffernan posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Llosa at line five. The junior from Sydney, Australia, holds a 15-7 record in all competitions and is 11-5 at No. 5 singles. Heffernan won his last three matches.
Alex Martinez Roca secured his second straight-set win against Chad Nguyen at line one. The 25th-ranked senior is 11-5 for the season, playing all matches at No. 1 singles.
Marcal Miret Avante clinched the battle at line four. The freshman's 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win versus Oskar Irdoja sent the Mustangs into the final. He has an 8-1 tally at No. 4 singles and is 16-4 in all competitions.
Midwestern State faces UT Tyler for the LSC Postseason Tournament championship Saturday afternoon at the Arlington Tennis Center. The Patriots beat Cameron 4-2 in Friday's other semifinal.First serve is set for 1 p.m.
--MSUMustangs.com--
