ARLINGTON, Texas -- Midwestern State has reached the finals of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship for the 12th time in the history of the program after defeating Lubbock Christian on Friday night at the Arlington Tennis Center, 4-3.

Midwestern State, ranked No. 19 in the nation, improved its overall record to 14-8 and has won 10 of its last 11 dual matches, including two wins over the 40th-ranked Chaparrals.

Germano Setti clinched the victory for the Mustangs with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over Tristan Vigneron at No. 2 singles. The sophomore from Brazil recorded his ninth win in 10 completed matches and propelled the conference co-champions into a finals matchup with UT Tyler at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Setti and Killian Guillou clinched the doubles point for the Mustangs by defeating Herman Aguirre and Pablo Sergura at No. 2 doubles, 6-1.

Bruno Sanchez and Justin Van Amerongen gave MSU the early advantage with a 6-3 win over Mattia Ghedin and Blas Ruiz Romero at No. 3 doubles.

Lubbock Christian took points from the first singles matches that were completed.

Romero handed Charles Heffernan his first loss of the season at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Heffernan had reeled off five consecutive wins since returning to dual match action on April 6.

Pablo Segura gave the Chaparrals a 2-1 lead in the dual with 6-3, 6-2 win over Philip Kamara at No. 5 singles. Kamara is 11-8 in singles matches for the Mustangs this season.

Stephen Slocombe pulled the Mustangs even as he handled Ghedin at No. 3 singles with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. It was the seventh win in straight sets for the junior from Barbados, who improved his record to 11-8 and has won six of his last nine completed matches.

Luis Diaz Argente, ranked No. 38 in the nation, battled 45th-ranked Martins Abamu at No. 1 singles and prevailed, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3. Diaz is 2-0 in his career against Abamu, who was ranked 13th in the nation last season when Diaz stung him at Penny Gullo Tennis Center, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

The lead was short lived for the Mustangs as Aguirre outdueled Guillou at No. 4 singles, 7-6 (10), 6-4. Guillou was coming off back-to-back straight-set victories and fell to 7-11 this season.

Setti came through with the fourth point of the day, and Midwestern State improved to 6-0 in dual matches against the Chaparrals, who suffered a 5-2 loss in the conference opener at MSU Tennis Center on March 20.

The Mustangs will face UT Tyler for the 13th time in program history. The two schools met in the finals of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship two years ago, and the Patriots took home the trophy with a 4-2 victory at Arlington Tennis Center. Heffernan and Yudai Watanabe played an unfinished match at No. 5 singles in that dual.

Watanabe clinched the finals berth for UT Tyler on Friday night with a 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles over Lucas Nitzschke of UT Permian Basin.

The Falcons were conference co-champions, finishing the LSC campaign tied with MSU at 7-1. MSU won the head-to-head meeting in Midland to claim the No. 1 seed in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship.

UT Tyler was the No. 3 seed after finishing 6-2 against LSC opponents during the season. The Patriots avenged their 4-3 loss at UTPB on March 24 and will try to turn the tables on the Mustangs, who won the first meeting on April 13, 5-2.

The Patriots, ranked No. 22 in the nation, are led by Joaquin Bianchi at No. 1 singles and Egor Shestakov at No. 2 singles. Carl Wessel, Daniil Felker and Jordi Garcia are other contributors for the Patriots, who have won the doubles point 17 times this year. Midwestern earned three wins at doubles to take the opening point in its dual match with the Patriots two weeks ago.

Diaz defeated Bianchi, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, while Slocombe, Kamara and Heffernan also earned wins.

Heffernan defeated Watanabe in a third-set tie break at No. 6 singles in the contentious dual match at MSU Tennis Center.

Midwestern State snapped a three-dual losing streak in the all-time series with its win over the Patriots but has only won two of the last six meetings. The Mustangs are 7-5 when facing UT Tyler.

MSU is seeking its sixth title in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship and its first since claiming back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
  Read Full Article