SILVER CITY, N.M. -- – No. 23-ranked Midwestern State completed its road trip with a 6-1 victory over Western New Mexico on Saturday afternoon and improved its overall record to 11-4. The Mustangs are 3-2 in dual matches against Lone Star Conference opponents.
Sophomore
Bruno Sanchez, ranked No. 24 among NCAA Division II singles players, clinched the victory for Midwestern State with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Mael Houee at No. 2 singles. Sanchez has a four-match winning streak and has won nine of his last 11 singles matches for the Mustangs. Sanchez is 4-1 against conference opponents.
Sanchez and
Justin Van Amerongen, ranked No. 42 as a doubles' pairing, started the afternoon with a 6-2 victory over Birk Arwedahl and Alexandre Frigout at No. 2 doubles. The duo is 9-4 with a 4-1 record in the LSC this spring.
Stephen Slocombe and
Filip Vacula, ranked No. 15 in the nation, secured the first point for MSU by defeating Houee and Javier Romero at No. 1 doubles, 6-3. Slocombe and Vacula are 8-5 overall and have won seven of their last 10 matches, improving to 3-1 in conference duals.
Juan David Duque and
Killian Guillou completed the sweep in doubles with a 6-2 win over Quentin Duvinage and Romain Malhomme at the No. 3 position. Duque and Guillou are 6-2 this season.
Duque, a junior from Colombia, also defeated Duvinage at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 6-3, and improved his singles' record to 6-3, winning four of six matches in the No. 6 position for the Mustangs.
Jose Marquez scored the first singles' point for MSU with a 6-2, 6-1 pasting of Arwedahl at No. 5 singles. Marquez, a junior from Mexico, is 7-4 in singles this season with a 3-2 conference record.
Vacula, a freshman from the Czech Republic, was forced into a match tiebreak by Romero at No. 1 singles, but the No. 13 ranked singles player in NCAA Division II prevailed, 5-7, 6-4, 10-6.
Slocombe earned his eighth consecutive win in singles and remained undefeated in four conference matches with a 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 victory over Malhomme at No. 3 singles.
Philip Kamara rallied to force a match tiebreak after the outcome of the dual had already been decided but was narrowly defeated by Frigout at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 5-7, 10-7. Kamara is 8-5 this season for the Mustangs.
Midwestern State hosts No. 8-ranked UT Tyler at MSU Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
