ARLINGTON, Texas -- Midwestern State's run of five consecutive appearances in the final of the Lone Star Conference Men's Tennis Championship came to an end on Friday. Cameron eliminated the Mustangs in the semifinal dual match, 4-1, at Arlington Tennis Center.
Stephen Slocombe earned the only point for Midwestern State with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Joao Duleba at No. 5 singles. The sophomore from Barbados improved to 7-2 in singles this season and has won both matches he played in the No. 5 position.
Slocombe played No. 1 doubles with
Luis Diaz Argente, but the duo fell to 15th-ranked Tomas Aleida and Thomas Cardona of Cameron, 6-4. Duleba and Baptiste Merier, ranked No. 24 in the nation, defeated 21st-ranked
Germano Setti and
Marcal Miret Avante, 6-2.
After winning the doubles point, Cameron pushed its lead to 2-0 as Mercier knocked off Setti at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-3. Setti was 8-0 against conference opponents during the regular season, but he played three matches at No. 4 singles and five matches in the No. 5 position. The freshman from Brazil was forced to move up in the lineup because senior
Charles Heffernan was out due to injury.
Heffernan would likely have played No. 2 singles had he been available. Miret took that position and faced Cardona, who is ranked No. 60 in singles. The Spaniard had a three-match winning streak end as Cardona scored a 6-4, 7-5 victory for the Aggies.
Cameron clinched the dual-match victory when Kristian Kubik defeated
Killian Guillou at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 6-3. Kubik defeated Guillou in the No. 4 position for the second time in eight days. Kubik prevailed at MSU Tennis Center on April 13, 6-1, 6-2. Cameron won that dual match, 5-2.
Kubik is the only player to defeat Guillou this season. The freshman from Paris, France, is 13-2 in singles for the Mustangs, who were seeded No. 3 in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship.
The second-seeded Aggies advance to the final and will face top-seeded UT Tyler for the title on Saturday morning. The Patriots breezed past fifth-seeded Arkansas-Fort Smith, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Midwestern State, which is 13-8 against Division II opponents, was No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings and waits for the NCAA Division II championship field to be announced on Monday. The announcement will be made via video stream on NCAA.com at 7 p.m.
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