WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- – No. 24-ranked Midwestern State suffered its first home defeat of the season on Thursday afternoon as No. 9-ranked UT Tyler pulled out a 5-2 victory at MSU Tennis Center.
The Mustangs fall to 11-5 overall with a 3-3 conference record, and they are 5-1 on their home courts.
Malo Pouesquen clinched the win for the Patriots as he won a rigorous battle with
Jose Marquez at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-1. Marquez is 3-3 in LSC matches and 3-3 at No. 5 singles. For the season, the junior from Oaxaca, Mexico, is 7-5 overall.
Stephen Slocombe scored victories in both singles and doubles for the Mustangs. Slocombe and
Filip Vacula, No. 15 in the ITA Division II doubles rankings, routed No. 5-ranked Daniil Felker and Carel Wessel at No. 1 doubles, 6-1.
The Patriots won the doubles point when Job Japelj and Trevor Short defeated
Juan David Duque and
Killian Guillou at No. 3 doubles, 6-3. Duque and Guillou fell to 6-3 overall and 3-3 against LSC opponents.
Artiom Dorofeev and Malo Poulesquen put the Patriots in position to win the first point of the day by upending
Justin Van Amerongen and
Bruno Sanchez, 6-4, at No. 2 doubles.
Slocombe pulled the Mustangs even in the dual match with a quick 6-2, 6-2 pasting of Martin Despodov at No. 3 singles. The senior from Barbados has a nine-match winning streak and is 10-3 this season. Slocombe has slayed all five conference opponents that he has faced.
Artiom Dorofeev, ranked No. 26 among NCAA Division II singles players, put the Patriots back in front with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 25-ranked
Bruno Sanchez, 6-4, 6-1. Sanchez saw a four-match winning streak end and suffered just his second loss in his last 10 matches.
No. 6-ranked Carel Wessel made a triumphant return to the UT Tyler lineup. Wessel had not played in a conference dual and had been out of action since defeating Adrian Constatin of Nebraska-Kearney on March 20. The junior from Romania defeated No. 13-ranked freshman
Filip Vacula, 6-3, 6-4. Vacula is 3-3 in conference play, and the young Czechian is 8-6 overall this season.
The two most entertaining matches of the day were played out after the result of the dual match had already been decided.
Killian Guillou won a battle of creative shot making, defeating Jordi Garcia Portell, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles. Guillou is 5-1 with four consecutive singles wins for the Stang Gang.
No. 56-ranked Daniil Felker won a grueling battle with
Philip Kamara at No. 4 singles, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (5). Kamara has lost three of his last four matches in tight three-setters at the No. 4 position. Kamara is 8-6 overall with a 1-4 conference record.
Midwestern State returns to MSU Tennis Center to face the Dallas Baptist Patriots on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
