WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- The doubles point proved to be vital as Cameron defeated Midwestern State in the latest rendition of the Red River Rivalry at MSU Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon. The No. 17-ranked Aggies defeated No. 30-ranked Midwestern State, 5-2, and improved to 6-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
Midwestern State is 12-9 overall with a 5-2 record against conference opponents, and the Mustangs are 6-3 at home this season. Cameron, which is 11-3 overall, earned its third consecutive win and is 5-1 on the road.
Thomas Cardona and Tomas Almieda, ranked No. 16 among Division II doubles teams, defeated
Luis Diaz Argente and
Stephen Slocombe of MSU, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles.
Germano Setti and
Marcal Miret Avante of Midwestern State rallied from a break down to defeat the No. 19-ranked pairing of Joao Duleba and Baptiste Mercier, 7-5, at No. 2 doubles.
The point was determined by a razor-thin margin in the No. 3 doubles match.
Charles Heffernan and
Killian Guillou fought off a match point for MSU, but they were unable to capitalize on three match points in the tiebreak and lost to Kristian Kubik and Emilio Seelbach, 7-6 (8).
Armed with a 1-0 lead, the Aggies earned the next two points in singles.
Kubik handed Guillou his first loss in singles this season, 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 4 position, and Cardona coasted to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Heffernan in the No. 2 singles match. Guillou is 11-1 in singles overall and fell to 6-1 in conference play. Heffernan is 8-6 in the No. 2 position and has a 5-2 singles record against LSC opponents.
Miret got the Mustangs on the scoreboard with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Mercier at No. 3 singles. Mercier had won 12 consecutive matches without dropping a set in his last 10 outings before facing the sophomore from Barcelona, Spain. Miret improved to 13-7 in singles with a 5-2 mark in conference matches.
Cameron clinched the dual-match victory when Alemeida, ranked No. 35 in the nation, won an evenly match battle with 54th-ranked Diaz, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Almieda was coming off back-to-back losses to Washburn and St. Mary's but improved to 7-4 at No. 1 singles. Diaz is 10-10 overall in singles for MSU with a 7-8 record in the No. 1 position.
Setti extended his winning streak in singles to six matches for the Mustangs with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Duleba at the No. 5 position. Setti is undefeated in seven conference matches and is 15-6 in singles overall this season.
Philip Kamara made his fourth appearance at No. 6 singles for MSU and fell to Alvaro Chavez, 5-7, 2-6.
Midwestern State celebrates Senior Day on Saturday and welcomes Arkansas-Fort Smith to MSU Tennis Center for the final LSC dual before the postseason tournament. First serve is scheduled for noon.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
