ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 25-ranked Midwestern State waited out a weather delay of more than seven hours but wasted little time advancing to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-0 win over No. 5-seed St. Mary's at the Arlington Tennis Center on Thursday night.
The fourth-seeded Mustangs face top-seeded Lubbock Christian in the semifinals on Friday — after the women's semifinal dual, which is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Lubbock Christian earned a 5-2 victory at MSU Tennis Center in the conference opener on April 3.
No. 18-ranked Germano Setti continued a memorable week by clinching the dual-match victory for the Stangs with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Lu Castillo Sanchez at No. 1 singles. The senior from Brazil won the men's Marie Morgan Award, presented to Midwestern State's most outstanding student-athlete, on Monday night. Two nights later, Setti was named the LSC Academic Player of the Year and selected to the All-LSC first team.
Setti improved to 13-4 and will probably have a chance to avenge one of those losses in the semifinals. Setti is likely to meet No. 4-ranked Kelly Giese of Lubbock Christian, who prevailed in a three-set battle with Setti during the regular season, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Juan David Duque won his fourth straight match, defeating Leonardo Fabbri at No. 3 singles to put the Mustangs on the verge of victory. Duque is 12-6 this season with a 5-4 mark in the No. 3 position.
Bruno Sanchez, ranked No. 45 among NCAA Division II singles players, extended his winning streak to five matches and was the first singles player off the court with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ollie Ericksson. Sanchez is 14-5 this season with 12 wins at No. 2 singles.
Midwestern State won the doubles point for the 13th time this season.
Setti and Matthew Earle, No. 32 in the ITA Collegiate Rankings, defeated Lincoln Baldonado and Nikita Gavrilonoks at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, and the duo improved to 16-2 this season.
Sanchez and Duque also cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles, defeating Louis Hein and Fabian Rosales. The No. 10 pairing in the ITA Collegiate Rankings has an eight-match winning streak and improved to 11-5 with the victory that secured the first point of the dual.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
