SAN ANTONIO -- No. 25-ranked Midwestern State won its third consecutive dual match with a 5-2 triumph over St. Mary's. The Mustangs have started the conference campaign 2-0 and improved their overall record to 7-7.
St. Mary's lost its conference opener and fell to 2-5 for the season. The Rattlers have lost their last four meetings with the Stang Gang and have only claimed four points in that span. Midwestern State leads the all-time series, 22-1.
Stephen Slocombe clinched the dual-match victory for MSU with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over senior Jake Faryniarz at No. 3 singles. The junior from Bardados won his fourth consecutive completed match and improved to 3-1 in three-set matches.
Slocombe and
Luis Diaz Argente, ranked No. 7 among NCAA Division II doubles pairings, dropped a 6-3 decision to No. 28-ranked Nicolas Llosa and Alvaro Soler at No. 1 doubles, but the Mustangs won the first point of the day despite the loss in the marquee matchup.
Killian Guillou and
Germano Setti knocked off the No. 44-ranked duo of Faryniarz and Oskar Irdoja, 6-3, at No. 2 doubles to secure the point. Guillou and Setti are 2-0 in LSC matches and 6-6 overall this season.
Bruno Sanchez and
Justin Van Amerongen beat Bernhard Hauer and Louis Hein at No. 3 doubles, 6-3, for their second straight win in conference play and gave the Mustangs an early advantage.
Setti breezed past Llosa, 6-0, 6-1, for his third straight win at No. 2 singles. The sophomore from Brazil improved to 4-2 in the No. 2 position and is 6-8 overall this season.
Guillou, who had lost four consecutive completed matches in three sets, was defeated in straight sets by 68th-ranked Irdoja, 1-6, 2-6. The sophomore from Paris, France, fell to 4-9 for the season and was making his first appearance at No. 4 singles for the Mustangs.
Philip Kamara improved to 4-1 at No. 6 singles and earned his second straight win in a conference dual match with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Daniel Matheu Baldor of Spain. The sophomore from Romania is 7-4 overall in singles matches this season.
Freshman
Bruno Sanchez of Spain dropped the first set in a tiebreak and fell to sophomore Aaron Ben Anton of Germany, 6-7 (4), 3-6, at No. 5 singles. Sanchez is 3-5 this season with two losses coming to conference rivals.
Diaz, ranked No. 48 in the nation, won his third consecutive match at No. 1 singles, taking down Soler, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The fifth-year senior from Spain lost to Soler in straight sets last season at MSU Tennis Center, 4-6, 2-6. Diaz is 6-5 overall this year with a 3-3 record in the No. 1 slot for the Mustangs.
Midwestern State is idle for 13 days before playing its next dual match at Western New Mexico on April 5. First serve in Silver City, New Mexico, is scheduled for 9 a.m. CDT.
--MSUMustangs.com--
