WICHITA, Kan. – The men's tennis team lost to UT Arlington in a tight 4-3 contest, and rebounded to defeat No. 4 Seward County Community College 5-2 this evening at the Coleman Tennis Complex.
UT Arlington narrowly grabbed the doubles point to start the match.
Marius Frosa and
Murkel Dellien quickly dispatched Jhonathan Gonzalez and Mauricio Del Rio 6-2 in the second flight. Guanarteme Nuez and Daniel Armengol soon responded with a 6-3 win over
Jan Poboril and
Vitor Mendes in the third flight. The Mavericks clinched the point in the top flight, as Sansidh Kommaruju and Mario Muniesa defeated
Jocelyn Devilliers and
Eddie Stoica 7-5 in a hard-fought match.
Frosa notched the first point for the Shockers, beating Muniesa 6-2, 6-1 in the top flight. This was Frosa's first match in the top flight since joining the team. UTA responded with back-to-back wins by Gonzalez and Nuez over Devilliers and Dellien respectively to put the pressure on the Shockers. Mendes won a three-set battle with Del Rio 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the sixth set to keep WSU in the match at 3-2. Poboril earned a clutch win, defeating Pablo Colvee 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the fifth flight to leave the match up to Stoica. Stoica and Armengol battled to three sets, with Armengol emerging victorious, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the match for the Mavericks.
"In the first match, it was tough being without our number one and number two players," said head coach
Danny Bryan. "I feel like if we play (UTA) at full strength, we're pretty even with them. We had chances in the doubles; we had the match point but didn't quite get it. In singles…we lost five of six first sets, but the guys fought real hard and gave us a chance to win the end. I was happy with the way everyone competed up and down the lineup."
Seward – ranked No. 4 in the Oracle/ITA junior college rankings – took the doubles point in the second match, beginning with Ondrej Nice/Carlos Anez beating Devilliers/Stoica 6-2. Alex Mosehle/Gabriel Nery defeated Dellien/Frosa 6-4 in the second flight to clinch the doubles point. Mendes/Poboril won their third flight match against Duro Opacic/Przemek Zielinski 7-6(2).
In singles play, Stoica topped Mosehle 6-1, 6-0 in the fourth flight to get the Shockers' first point. Eddie is now tied with Inoue for the most singles wins with 19.
Andrea Caligiana followed with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nery in the sixth flight. Frosa earned his second top-flight win, defeating Anez – ranked No. 5 in JuCo – by a score of 6-2, 6-4. Dellien soon added a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 23 Zielinski in the third flight. Mendes notched a 7-6(2), 6-2 win over Claudio Quinones in the fifth flight, giving him his first singles win in a dual match this year. No. 34 Opacic defeated Devilliers in a super tiebreaker, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 10-3 in the second flight to round out the scoring.
"Seward has a pretty strong team," said Bryan. "I felt like our guys didn't play with a sense of urgency in doubles. We had some early leads and gave them back, and when you play to six you just can't give away free points, and that's what we did. The guys did a good job of responding, as some got out to big, early leads…Ultimately it was a good day, even though we lost the first match. I think if we can continue to get better and fight like we did, good things are going to happen when we get everyone back."
Haru Inoue and
Miroslav Herzan – who normally play in the top two singles flights – did not play today due to illness.
Up Next:
The Shockers will spend next weekend on the road for a pair of Valley contests. WSU will play Illinois State on Fri., March 31 at 11 a.m. in Normal, and then will face Southern Illinois on Sat., April 1 at 10 a.m. in Carbondale.
UT Arlington 4, Wichita State 3
Singles competition
1.
Marius Frosa (WSU) def. Mario Muniesa (UTAM) 6-2, 6-1
2. Jhonathan Gonzalez (UTAM) def.
Jocelyn Devilliers (WSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
3. Guanarteme Nuez (UTAM) def.
Murkel Dellien (WSU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Daniel Armengol (UTAM) def.
Eddie Stoica (WSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
5.
Jan Poboril (WSU) def. Pablo Colvee (UTAM) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
6.
Vitor Mendes (WSU) def. Mauricio Del Rio (UTAM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Sansidh Kommaruju/Mario Muniesa (UTAM) def.
Jocelyn Devilliers/
Eddie Stoica (WSU) 7-5
2.
Marius Frosa/
Murkel Dellien (WSU) def. #58 Jhonathan Gonzalez/Mauricio Del Rio (UTAM) 6-2
3. Guanarteme Nuez/Daniel Armengol (UTAM) def.
Jan Poboril/
Vitor Mendes (WSU) 6-3
Match Notes:
UT Arlington 13-7
Wichita State 9-9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,2,6,5,4)
Wichita State 5, #4 Seward County CC 2
Singles competition
1.
Marius Frosa (WSU) def. #5 Carlos Anez (SCCC) 6-2, 6-4
2. #34 Duro Opacic (SCCC) def.
Jocelyn Devilliers (WSU) 7-6 (0-3), 3-6, 10-3
3.
Murkel Dellien (WSU) def. #23 Przemek Zielinski (SCCC) 6-2, 6-4
4.
Eddie Stoica (WSU) def. Alex Mosehle (SCCC) 6-1, 6-0
5.
Vitor Mendes (WSU) def. Claudio Quinones (SCCC) 7-6 (0-2), 6-2
6.
Andrea Caligiana (WSU) def. Gabriel Nery (SCCC) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #1 Ondrej Nice/Carlos Anez (SCCC) def.
Jocelyn Devilliers/
Eddie Stoica (WSU) 6-2
2. Alex Mosehle/Gabriel Nery (SCCC) def.
Murkel Dellien/
Marius Frosa (WSU) 6-4
3.
Vitor Mendes/
Jan Poboril (WSU) def. Duro Opacic/Przemek Zielinski (SCCC) 7-6 (0-2)
Match Notes:
Seward County CC 13-3; National ranking #4
Wichita State 10-9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,6,1,3,5,2)
