LAWTON, Oklahoma -- No. 14-ranked Midwestern State suffered its first Lone Star Conference loss in the regular season finale against its Red River Rival —Cameron. The Aggies ended an eight-dual winning streak for the Mustangs with a 4-3 victory at Streich-Henry Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Midwestern State shares the regular season conference championship with UT Permian Basin but is the No. 1 seed in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship by virtue of its 4-3 win over the Falcons on April 6. The Mustangs face eighth-seeded Western New Mexico in the quarterfinals at Arlington Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for noon on Thursday.
Midwestern State closed the regular season with a 12-8 overall record and finished 7-1 against conference opponents.
Luis Diaz Argente and
Stephen Slocombe, ranked No. 3 among NCAA Division II doubles pairings, scored a 6-2 victory over Martin Hlavacek and Alexandre Post of Cameron for their sixth consecutive triumph, but the Aggies took the doubles' point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
Rhys Edwards and Vicente Preto of Cameron scored a 6-4 victory over
Bruno Sanchez and
Justin Van Amerongen at No. 3 doubles to pull even with the Mustangs. Louis Boileven and Guilherme Cruz secured the point with a 6-3 win over
Killian Guillou and
Germano Setti, who had won their previous seven doubles matches for MSU.
Boileven, ranked No. 44 in singles, upended the 35th-ranked Diaz at No. 1 singles, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Diaz fell to 11-7 for the season and had a three-match winning streak snapped. Diaz is 3-3 against nationally ranked opponents this spring.
Germano Setti put the Mustangs on the board in the dual match with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Hlavacek at No. 2 singles. Setti has won eight of his last nine singles matches and is ranked No. 62 in the nation.
Slocombe started strong at No. 3 singles, but Cruz rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win to give the Aggies a 3-1 lead in the dual match. Slocombe has lost back-to-back matches in three sets after winning seven of his previous eight matches and finished the regular season with a 5-3 record in conference clashes.
Post clinched the victory for Cameron as he pulled away from
Philip Kamara for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 4 singles. Kamara is 5-3 against LSC foes and all three losses have come in three-set matches.
Van Amerongen earned his first singles victory since March 2 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Preto at No. 6 singles. Van Amerongen had not played singles in an LSC dual match prior to Sunday. The junior Dutchman is 3-2 in singles for the Mustangs this season.
Charlie Heffernan needed a super tiebreak but remained unbeaten in dual-match action this year, defeating Edwards at No. 5 singles, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. The fifth-year senior from Australia enters the postseason with a five-match winning streak.
Cameron is seeded No. 5 in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship and could potentially meet the Mustangs in the semifinals with a win over fourth-seeded Lubbock Christian on Thursday.
Midwestern State earned a share of its fifth conference title and its third in the last six years.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
