The Western New Mexico men's tennis team is headed to Florida for the final rounds of the NCAA Championship after their defeat of the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers in the preliminary round Thursday morning.  The Mustangs clinched the match, 5-1.

Flavio Rueda (Mazatlan, Mexico, Universidad Autonoma de Durango, Riverside Community College) and Kyle Lynch (Albuquerque, NM, New Mexico Military Institute High School) finished their No. 2 doubles match quickly with an 8-1 victory over Kyle Conzemius and Revel Yehezkia.  

No. 1 doubles Yair Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico, Universidal del Valle de Mexico, Riverside Community College) and Henning Thrien (Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Carl Friedrick Gaus Gymnasium, Hope International University) showed their nerves at the beginning of their match but then calmed down to get the second point of the day, 8-4.

At No. 3, Francisco Damasio (Jundiai, Brazil, Centro Educational Sigma High School) and Yoeri VanSpeybroeck (Nevele, Belgium, Viy Handels en Sport Institoot) faced tough competition in the Lopers' Aaron Angst and Rodrigo Dunca and dropped the match, 8-5.  

The Mustangs needed to win three out of the six singles matches to win.  It was not much of a problem with wins at No. 3 (Lynch, 6-0 and 6-4), No. 5 (VanSpeybroeck, 6-0 and 6-0), and No. 6 (Damasio, 6-1 and 6-0).

WNMU must wait until preliminary rounds conclude to find out their opponent.

Division II NCAA Men's Tennis Preliminary Round

Nebraska-Kearney at Western New Mexico, May 6, 10:00 a.m.
Doubles
No. 1 Yair Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Universidal del Valle de Mexico)/Henning Thrien (Gelsenkirchen, Germany/Carl Friedrick Gaus Gymnasium) (WNMU) def. Josh Raymond/John Steinke (UNK) 8-4
No. 2 Flavio Rueda (Mazatlan, Mexico/Universidad Autonoma de Durango)/Kyle Lynch (Albuquerque, NM/New Mexico Military Institute High School) (WNMU) def. Kyle Conzemius/Revel Yehezkia (UNK) 8-1
No. 3 Aaron Angst/Rodrigo Duncan (UNK) def. Francisco Damasio (Jundiai, Brazil/Centro Educational Sigma )/Yoeri VanSpeybroeck (Nevele, Belgium/Viy Handels en Sport Institoot) (WNMU) 8-5

Singles
No. 1 Yair Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Universidal del Valle de Mexico) (WNMU) vs. Josh Raymond (UNK) 6-2, 5-0 DNF
No. 2 Henning Thrien (Gelsenkirchen, Germany/Carl Friedrick Gaus Gymnasium) (WNMU) vs. Revel Yehezkia (UNK) 6-6 (1-1) DNF
No. 3 Kyle Lynch (Albuquerque, NM/New Mexico Military Institute High School) (WNMU) def. Rodrigo Duncan (UNK) 6-0, 6-4
No. 4 Flavio Rueda (Mazatlan, Mexico/Universidad Autonoma de Durango) (WNMU) vs. John Steinke (UNK) 4-6, 2-5 DNF
No. 5 Yoeri VanSpeybroeck (Nevele, Belgium/Viy Handels en Sport Institoot) (WNMU) def. Kyle Conzemius (UNK) 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Francisco Damasio (Jundiai, Brazil/Centro Educational Sigma ) (WNMU) def. Aaron Angst (UNK) 6-1, 6-0