PLANO, Texas – Midwestern State took a 3-2 lead in the semifinal dual at the LSC Men's Tennis Championship on Friday afternoon, but top-seeded Lubbock Christian was able to rally, survive and advance with a 4-3 victory at Life Time.
Inclement weather forced the semifinals duals to be moved to indoor facilities, though the final match was completed outdoors at the athletic fitness center due to time constraints.
Midwestern State captured the doubles point to establish the early lead, but the first two singles matches to be completed were won by the Chaparrals.
Bruno Sanchez pulled the Mustangs even with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over Pablo Segura at No. 2 singles. Segura, No. 20 in the ITA Collegiate Rankings, lost to Sanchez for the second time this year. Sanchez won his sixth straight singles match and improved to 15-5.
Juan David Duque won his fifth consecutive singles match and put Midwestern State in front with his 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over Matti Ghedin at No. 3 singles. Duque improved his record to 13-6 and then watched as the drama unfolded.
Germano Setti, ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II, was in his second battle of the season with No. 4-ranked Kelly Giese, who defeated Setti at MSU Tennis Center in the conference opener 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Setti earned a match point at No. 1 singles, but Giese extended his winning streak to 20 matches and improved his dual-match record to 22-1 with a heart-stopping 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Setti, who is 13-5 for the Mustangs this season.
The dual was decided by the result at No. 6 singles. Andr Rossi Principe of Lubbock Christian jumped out in front
Tomas Leguizamon with a 6-1 win in the first set. Leguizamon, a freshman from Colombia, regrouped and took the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5).
The match was switched to an outdoor court during the third set.
Leguizamon went up a break at 3-1, but Principe took five of the next six games in the final set, and clinched the 6-4 victory by winning the deuce point in the 10th game after Leguizamon rallied from 15-40 down to force the deciding point in no-ad scoring.
Sanchez and Duque clinched the doubles point for the Mustangs with a 6-4 win over Ghedin and Giese at No. 1 doubles for their ninth straight doubles victory and improved their record to 12-5.
Jose Marquez and
Jack Franklin got the Mustangs started on the right foot in the dual with a 6-2 triumph over Marco Seccia and Principe at No. 3 doubles.
Andres De Los Rios put the first dual-match point on the board for Lubbock Christian with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Marquez at No. 4 singles. Marquez had a three-match winning streak snapped and fell to 13-7 for the season.
Seccia gave the Chaps a 2-1 lead in the dual with his 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Cesar Loeches Llamas at No. 5 singles. Loeches Llamas had won four of his last five completed matches for the Mustangs, but his record fell to 4-4 this spring.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
