WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- No. 25-ranked Midwestern State opened up conference play with an impressive 5-2 win over No. 26-ranked Lubbock Christian at MSU Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Midwestern State improved to 6-7 overall and is 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference. Lubbock Christian fell to 10-3 overall and is 0-1 in the LSC.
Philip Kamara snapped a four-match losing streak and clinched the dual-match victory for the Mustangs with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Sabri Laphitz at No. 6 singles. Kamara improved to 3-1 in the No. 6 position and is 6-4 for the season, including a 3-2 record at No. 5 singles.
Stephen Slocombe and
Luis Diaz Argente, who are ranked No. 7 as a doubles pairing, helped MSU sweep doubles with a 6-1 victory over Martins Abamu and Tristin Vigneron in the the No. 1 slot, and both players won their singles matches in routine fashion for the Mustangs.
Slocombe was the first player off the court with a decisive 6-0, 6-2 win over Herman Aguirre at No. 4 singles, and Diaz dusted Vigneron at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-3, as Midwestern State established an early 3-0 lead over the Chaps.
Slocombe, a junior from Barbados, has won his last three completed matches and is 6-5 in singles this season with a 6-3 mark in the No. 4 position.
Diaz played his fifth consecutive match at No. 1 singles and has posted back-to-back victories for MSU. The fifth-year senior from Spain is ranked No. 48 in the nation among singles players and improved his record to 5-5 this season. Diaz is 7-3 at No. 1 doubles alongside Slocombe.
Killian Guillou and
Germano Setti teamed up to win No. 2 doubles over Matti Ghedin and Braden Tipton, 6-2, and both Mustangs played grueling three-set matches in singles.
Guillou succumbed to Ghedin at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, after taking a 4-1 lead in the third set. The sophomore from Paris, France, has lost his last four completed matches in three sets and fell to 4-8 for the season with a 3-4 record at No. 3 singles.
Setti prevailed in a marathon match at No. 2 singles with No. 35-ranked Martins Abamu as both players needed treatment from the trainers during the course of the two-and-a-half-hour match. Setti, who is No. 66 among Division II singles players, has won back-to-back three-set matches after his 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 triumph over Abamu and is 5-8 for the campaign.
Freshman
Bruno Sanchez of Spain teamed with junior
Justin Van Amerongen of the Netherlands to clinch the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Aguirre and Pablo Segura of the Chaps.
Sanchez dropped his singles match to Segura, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, but the Mustangs had already secured the victory over their conference rival.
Midwestern State is on the road to face St. Mary's on Friday. First serve at Rohrbach Stadium Tennis Complex in San Antonio is scheduled for 2 p.m.
--MSUMustangs.com--
