WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- No. 18-ranked Midwestern State is making its 21st overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament and hosts No. 30-ranked UT Permian Basin at MSU Tennis Center on Monday. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.
The Mustangs earned their 11th consecutive berth in the postseason with an overall record of 14-9 and finished 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference. MSU reached the final of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship.
In the regular season dual at UTPB on April 6, the Mustangs snapped the Falcons six-dual winning streak. After winning the doubles point, MSU was on the winning side of the first three singles matches that were completed to clinch the victory.
Killian Guillou and
Germano Setti clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Vitaliy Horovoy and Jonathan Vega.
Juan David Duque, making his second straight appearance in the lineup, clinched the victory for Midwestern State with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Grzegorz Rudnicki at No. 5 singles.
Luis Diaz Argente, ranked No. 35 in the nation, has anchored No. 1 singles for the Stang Gang this season. Diaz has won five of his last seven singles matches after falling to 17th-ranked Vitaliy Horovoy of UTPB. The senior from Spain is 12-8 this season with nine wins coming in the No. 1 position.
Setti, ranked No. 52 in the nation, is 11-3 at No. 2 singles and won seven of his eight matches in conference play. The sophomore from Brazil has won his last four completed matches and his only loss since March 15 came in a third-set tiebreak against Egor Shestakov of UT Tyler. Setti earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Takumi Katsuda of UTPB in their match last month at Bush Tennis Center in Midland, Texas.
Stephen Slocombe posted two victories in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship at No. 3 singles, and the junior from Barbados has won eight of his last 11 completed singles matches for the Mustangs. Slocombe battled Jonathan Vega in the dual at UTPB, and Vega prevailed, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Guillou, a sophomore from France, has helped MSU achieve a 10-10 record at No. 4 singles this season.
Midwestern State is 13-9 in the No. 5 singles position with
Philip Kamara earning six of those victories as he finished the conference campaign with a 5-3 record. Kamara was narrowly defeated by Jonas Krahofer of UTPB earlier this season, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-7 (10).
Six different players have started at No. 6 singles, and the Mustangs are 12-7 in the position this season.
Justin Van Amerongen has posted two wins at No. 6 singles in his last two appearances, including a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win over Yudai Watanabe of UT Tyler in the final of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship.
Diaz and Slocombe are ranked No. 4 in the nation among NCAA Division II doubles pairings and boasts a 14-5 record this season at No. 1 doubles. The tandem defeated Jonas Krahofer and Grzegorz Rudnicki of UTPB, 6-1, in their clash last month.
Setti and Guillou have won nine of their last 10 matches at No. 2 doubles, including their triumph against the Falcons in April.
Van Amerongen and
Bruno Sanchez have won eight of their last 10 matches at No. 3 doubles and posted back-to-back victories in the LSC Men's Tennis Championship two weeks ago. The tandem is 10-5 overall this season but lost a tiebreak at UTPB last month, 6-7 (4), against the pairing of Katsuda and Lucas Nitschke.
The Mustangs have won the doubles point in nine of their last 11 dual matches, including their win over UTPB.
The Falcons are 19-4 overall this season and finished 7-1 in conference before losing to UT Tyler in the semifinals of the LSC Men's Tennis Championship, 4-3.
The winner advances to the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships from May 21-25 at Sanlando Park Tennis Center in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
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