TYLER, Texas -- Micaela McSpadden needed a victory at No. 6 singles in order for Midwestern State to defeat UT Tyler at Summers Tennis Center on Tuesday afternoon. The sophomore came through — defeating Akshaya Suresh 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, and the Mustangs celebrated a 4-3 win over the Patriots.
Midwestern State improved to 15-6 overall with a 6-2 record in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs are in a three-way tie for second place and move ahead of the Patriots, who fell to 5-3 in the conference and 11-8 overall this season. Midwestern State is tied with Angelo State and St. Mary's behind Cameron, which is 8-0 in the LSC.
McSpadden won her fourth match in five outings and improved to 8-4 overall in singles. She has won seven of nine completed matches in the No. 6 position for the Mustangs this season.
UT Tyler established an early lead with a convincing win in doubles. The Patriots scored a pair of 6-0 victories.
Alice Di Matteo and
Kanaha Furutani were shut out at No. 2 doubles by Violetta Khisamova and Brooklyn Ross.
Skylar Minns and
Emilija Visic were stymied by Tanvikhaa Saravanan and Kanika Siviraman at No. 3 doubles.
The Mustangs No. 1 doubles team of
Amelia Lawson and
Sydney Williams, ranked No. 32 in the nation, was beaten in a tiebreak by the Patriots pairing of Allison Schwartz and Suresh, 7-4.
Schwartz gave UT Tyler a 2-0 lead in the dual by upending Visic at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Visic has a 4-4 record against conference opponents and is 8-8 in the No. 4 position. The junior from Phoenix is 10-9 in singles overall this year.
Amelia Lawson earned the first point of the dual for Midwestern State with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-0 win over Ross at No. 1 singles. Lawson has won five consecutive matches, and it marked the second time in three matches that Lawson won the third set at love. She beat Teodora Vrucan of UT Permian Basin 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 at MSU Tennis Center on April 1.
Hannah Yip won the first set against Khisamova, 6-0, but the Patriots won the point at No. 3 singles as the junior from Russia claimed the next two sets, 6-4, 6-4. Yip fell to 1-1 in the No. 3 position and is 7-11 overall in singles for the Mustangs.
UT Tyler only needed one win in the remaining three matches to defeat Midwestern State.
Alice Di Matteo staved off defeat with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Saravanan at No. 2 singles. Di Matteo has won her last two matches in the No. 2 position and has prevailed in three of her last four singles matches overall. The fifth-year senior from Palermo, Italy, is 9-8 overall in singles this season.
Skylar Minns won a pressure-packed match for MSU at No. 5 singles. The junior from New Braunfels, Texas, won the first set in a tiebreak and went on to defeat Siviraman in straight sets, 7-6 (7), 6-4. Minns is 6-2 in conference matches and 12-2 in singles overall this season.
McSpadden finished the job for Midwestern State, which returns home to face conference-leading Cameron on Thursday. First serve at MSU Tennis Center is slated for noon.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
