TYLER, Texas -- Midwestern State is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship. The Mustangs are the No. 3 seed in the South Central Region and are visiting UT Tyler in a preliminary round at Summers Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday. The winner will advance to the NCAA Division II Nationals Round of 16 in Orlando, Florida, and vie for a national championship.

MSU reached the NCAA postseason for the 20th time, but the Mustangs have lost in the preliminary round each of the last two years. Last year, Cameron defeated Midwestern State, 4-2, in South Central Regional at MSU Tennis Center.

Midwestern State has reached the NCAA Division II Nationals Round of 16 nine times in its history and has been a quarterfinalist on six occasions, most recently in 2019, when the Mustangs defeated 19th-ranked Indianapolis, 4-3, before falling to top-ranked Columbus State, 4-1, at Salando Park Tennis Center in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

Midwestern State is 14-10 overall after finishing 6-2 in the Lone Star Conference and was the No. 3 seed in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament. Cameron eliminated the Mustangs in the semifinals, 4-1, and went on to defeat top-seeded UT Tyler in the final at Arlington Tennis Center, 4-3.

UT Tyler went through the LSC regular season 8-0 and is 19-2 overall this year. The Patriots narrowly defeated MSU in their regular season confrontation, 4-3. The dual-match came down to the final singles match, Yudai Watanbe of UT Tyler was trailing Stephen Slocombe of Midwestern State by a set and a break midway through the second set, but the junior from Japan rallied to win No. 6 singles, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
The Patriots defeated St. Mary's in the South Central Regional in Tyler last year, 4-0, and advanced to the Round of 16. Hawaii Pacific eliminated UT Tyler with a 4-2 victory.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series, 6-4, but the Patriots have won three of the last four meetings, including the last two encounters in Tyler.

Luis Diaz Argente is 12-10 overall in singles this season, including a 9-8 record in the No. 1 position. Diaz has won his last two completed matches, but he lost to 13th-ranked Joaquin Bianchi at UT Tyler on April 11, 4-6, 1-6.

Charles Heffernan is 10-10 with a 9-6 record at No. 2 singles. The Australian won his last match over Juan Rosello of Arkansas-Fort Smith, 7-6 (5), 6-3, but suffered a 2-6, 3-6 loss to sixth-ranked Gonzalo Fernandez of UT Tyler earlier this month.

Marcal Miret Avante had a three-match winning streak snapped with a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Thomas Cardona of Cameron. Avante lost to Egor Shestakov of UT Tyler at No. 3 singles, 5-7, 3-6, but is 10-7 in the No. 3 position this season and 15-8 overall for the Mustangs.

Killian Guillou earned his 11th straight win when Cal Wessel of UT Tyler retired in their match at No. 4 singles in the regular season, and Guillou won 3-6, 6-3, 6-5 (ret.). The freshman from Paris, France, is 2-2 since that victory in Tyler, including a 4-6, 3-6 loss to Kristian Kubik of Cameron in his last outing.

Germano Setti, the Freshman of the Year in the LSC, had a seven-match winning streak snapped against Baptiste Mercier of Cameron, 1-6, 3-6. Setti scored a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Jordi Garcia in the No. 5 slot at UT Tyler in the regular season. Settii is 16-7 overall and went through the regular season undefeated against conference opponents with eight victories.

The Mustangs are 13-3 at No. 6 singles, led by Slocombe, who is 7-2 this season with five wins coming in the No. 6 position. The sophomore from Barbados has won four of his last five completed matches for Midwestern State, including a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Joao Duleba of Cameron in the semifinals of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship in Arlington, Texas, last week.

Philip Kamara has played No. 6 singles four times since March 31, and the freshman from Romania is 3-1 this season.

Midwestern State is 36-32 in doubles this season, but the Mustangs have not won the doubles point in their last four duals. The last time MSU won the doubles point was at UT Tyler, where Miret and Setti defeated Bianchi and Wessel at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, and Heffernan and Guillou handled Jordi Garcia and Jonas Dixon, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles.

Bianchi and Fernandez lead the Patriots. Both players are ranked in the top-10. Bianchi (17-4) is No. 6 in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, and Fernandez (21-1) is No. 9.

Fernandez and Shestakov are 10-0 in doubles this season and ranked No. 11 in the nation.

The other dual match in the South Central Region has Cameron hosting Lubbock Christian at 1 p.m. on Friday.