ARLINGTON, Texas -- No. 3-seed Midwestern State dropped the doubles point in its quarterfinal match with sixth-seeded UT Permian Basin on Thursday afternoon, but the Mustangs won four singles matches and advanced to the LSC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament semifinals with a 4-1 triumph over the Falcons at Arlington Tennis Center.
Gregorz Rudnicki and Vitaliy Horovoy of UTPB upset 21st-ranked
Germano Setti and
Marcal Miret Avante at No. 2 doubles, 6-2.
Luis Diaz Argente and
Stephen Slocombe pulled out a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles for the Mustangs.
Hector Flores and Paul Scwieger clinched the doubles point for the Falcons with a 7-5 win over
Killian Guillou and
Philip Kamara at No. 3 doubles.
Guillou handed Rudnicki a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at No. 4 singles to draw the dual match even, 1-1.
Marcal Miret Avante waltzed past Vitaliy Horovoy at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-4, and the Mustangs took a lead they would not relinquish.
Guillou improved to 13-1 in singles this season, and the freshman from Paris, France, is 6-1 in the No. 4 position. Miret posted his third-straight win in singles and his second win of the year at No. 2 singles. The sophomore improved to 15-7 in singles overall.
Diaz, ranked No. 42 in the nation among Division II singles players, earned a straight-set win over Patryk Kosinski at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-1. Diaz has won six of his last eight matches and claimed his second straight-set victory over Kosinski this season.
Kamara, who was pressed into action with
Charles Heffernan out of the lineup, clinched the dual match victory for MSU with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at No. 6 singles over Jonas Krahofer. The freshman from Romania is 3-1 at No. 6 singles for the Mustangs.
Midwestern State has a rematch with No. 2-seed Cameron on Friday in the semifinals. The Red River rivals met last week at MSU Tennis Center, and the Aggies celebrated a 5-2 victory. Cameron advanced with a 4-0 victory over St. Mary's in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal dual features top-seeded UT Tyler battling upset-minded Arkansas-Fort Smith — the No. 5 seed — which eliminated fourth-seeded Lubbock Christian, 4-3, in the only dual that went the distance on Thursday. UT Tyler wiped out Western New Mexico, 4-0.
Both semifinals will begin at 9:30 Friday morning at Arlington Tennis Center, and the winners will meet for the title on Saturday morning at 9:30.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
