WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's tennis team picked up a pair of home wins against Cowley College and Northwest Missouri State Saturday at the Coleman Tennis Complex.
 
"Overall, it was a good day," head coach Danny Bryan said. "We were expecting two tough teams, and that's what we got."
 
In their 6-1 win versus Cowley, Kristof Minarik and Alex Richards gave the Shockers the doubles advantage with a 6-3 victory at court one. After Ray Lo and Nicolas Acevedo fell at No. 2, Luka Mrsic and Orel Ovil took the No. 3 doubles match to a tiebreaker where they battled to a 7-6(8) win to clinch the doubles point and go up 1-0 on the Tigers.
 
The Shockers went on to win five of the six singles matches led by Ovil and Lo at courts three and five. Acevedo won the clinching point at No. 2, 6-2, 6-3, and Mrsic and Richards capped off the match with wins at four and six.
 
"We got challenged a lot," Bryan said. "Cowley is the No. 1 junior college team in the country. They have a lot of really good players, and we had to work for that win."
 
In the 4 p.m. match against Northwest Missouri State, the Shockers, again, won the doubles point with a 6-3 victory by Lo Jackie Lin, and Ovil and Mrsic picked up another win, 6-1, this time at court two.
 
Wichita State completed the 7-0 sweep of the Bearcats, winning six-straight singles matches. Minarik made quick work of his opponent at court one, only dropping a single game, and Mrsic followed with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3. Lin clinched the match at court six, winning 6-3, 6-2. Ovil kept the momentum rolling with a 6-3, 6-2 win of his own at court two. Richards and Lo both found themselves in 10-point tiebreakers, and both prevailed with 10-8 and 10-7 third-set wins, respectively.
 
"In the second match, they were also tough," Bryan said. "Already playing a match that day, I think some of our guys got tired, but I think it's great that we had to work through it, and Alex and Ray ended up still finding a way to win."
 
The Shockers improve to 11-8 leading into a five-match stretch against American Athletic Conference opponents.
 
"It was good overall," Bryan said. "We have a lot to build on moving on forward."
 
Wichita State heads to Dallas, Texas April 1-3 to play Memphis, SMU and Temple.
 

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#67 Wichita State 6, Cowley CC 1

Singles competition

1. Takeshi Taco (COWLEY) def. Kristof Minarik (WSU) 7-5, 6-0

2. Nicolas Acevedo (WSU) def. Boruch Skierkier (COWLEY) 6-2, 6-3

3. Orel Ovil (WSU) def. Hanamichi Carvajal (COWLEY) 6-3, 6-1

4. Luka Mrsic (WSU) def. Gaston Erhardt (COWLEY) 6-4, 7-5

5. Ray Lo (WSU) def. Harry Collins (COWLEY) 6-0, 6-3

6. Alex Richards (WSU) def. Andoni Garmendia (COWLEY) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Kristof Minarik/Alex Richards (WSU) def. Taiyo Hirano/Aymeric Bruno (COWLEY) 6-3

2. Gaston Erhardt/Boruch Skierkier (COWLEY) def. Ray Lo/Nicolas Acevedo (WSU) 6-3

3. Luka Mrsic/Orel Ovil (WSU) def. Takeshi Taco/Andoni Garmendia (COWLEY) 7-6 (10-8)

Match Notes:

Cowley CC 10-1

Wichita State 10-8; National ranking #67

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,5,1,2,4,6)
 

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#67 Wichita State 7, Northwest Mo. St. 0

Singles competition

1. Kristof Minarik (WSU) def. Calloud, Fabien (NWMSU) 6-1, 6-0

2. Orel Ovil (WSU) def. Meier, Mason (NWMSU) 6-3, 6-2

3. Luka Mrsic (WSU) def. Birgerson, Simon (NWMSU) 6-3, 6-3

4. Ray Lo (WSU) def. Piranomonte,Fillippo (NWMSU) 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 10-7

5. Alex Richards (WSU) def. Brazet, Paul-Antoine (NWMSU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 10-8

6. Jackie Lin (WSU) def. Sanchez, Martin (NWMSU) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Kristof Minarik/Alex Richards (WSU) vs. Meier, Mason/Birgerson, Simon (NWMSU) 4-4, unfinished

2. Luka Mrsic/Orel Ovil (WSU) def. Calloud, Fabien/Rodrigues, Vinnie (NWMSU) 6-1

3. Jackie Lin/Ray Lo (WSU) def. Piranomonte,Fillippo/Sanchez, Martin (NWMSU) 6-3

Match Notes:

Northwest Mo. St. 6-4

Wichita State 11-8; National ranking #67

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,6,2,5,4)