No. 25 Men’s Tennis Tallies Two More Wins in Arizona

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Following a tough 5-3 win against Mesa Community College, the No. 25 Western New Mexico University men's tennis team cruised to a 9-0 win against former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado Mesa to cap the final two matches in Arizona.

With the wins, WNMU is now 3-1 on the season and will head out to California this week. The Mustangs took advantage of strong play in doubles to build a 2-1 lead against Mesa CC. The top doubles pair of redshirt junior Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes)/junior Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) and the No. 2 pair of senior Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes)/sophomore Liam Fraboulet (Lycée Kerraoul, Paimpol, France/Lycée Kerraoul) each won by the same score of 8-4. Sophomores Blayze O'Keefe (Las Vegas, NV/Odyssey Charter)/Zachary Grabovic (South Bank, Australia/St. Kevin's College) tallied five games before falling 8-5 at No. 3.

In singles, No. 2 through No. 4 picked up wins to seal the victory. Almost every singles match went three sets with Pageault taking the win at No. 2 as he won the first set 6-4 and after a 2-6 setback in the second, he came back strong for the 6-4 win in the third. Gnilozubov at No. 3 rolled to a 6-2 win in the first and then was leading 4-1 in the second when his opponent retired. Da Lio then had to fight to win his at No. 4. His opening set went to a tiebreaker before he prevailed 7-6 and after a 3-6 loss in the second, he closed strong with a 6-3 win in the third. O'Keefe at No. 5 was in quite the match as well as he dropped the first set 2-6 and then rallied for a 6-2 win in the second and was tied in the third at four-all when the match was called due to darkness. Fraboulet at the top flight started with a tiebreaker in which he lost 6-7, but regrouped to take the second 6-4, before falling in the third 2-6. Grabovic at No. 6 opened with a 6-2 win in the first before falling in the next two 2-6, 3-6.

Against Colorado Mesa, the Mustangs rolled to the 9-0 victory. In doubles, all three won by the same scores of 8-4. Da Lio/Gnilozubov played at No. 1, Fraboulet/Pageault at No. 2 and O'Keefe/Grabovic at No. 3.

In singles, Pageault rolled to his win at the top flight by a score of 6-3, 6-0. Redshirt junior Sascha Brechtel (Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany/Kurpfalz Gymnasium Mannheim ) added a solid 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 6 and Gnilozubov at No. 3 added a straight set 6-2, 6-3 victory to clinch the match. With the match already decided, the teams finished the other matches via the super tiebreaker in the third set. Fraboulet at No. 2 cruised to a 6-0 first set win and after falling in the second 2-6, he recovered to take the match at 10-6. Da Lio had to come back from a first set 4-6 loss at No. 4 to take the second 6-3 and then the third at 10-5. O'Keefe made it a clean sweep with his win at No. 5 as he started with a 6-3 win and after a 3-6 loss in the second, he claimed the third by a score of 10-7.

WNMU will now travel to California this week to play Point Loma, Azusa Pacific, UC-Riverside and Holy Names.

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Players Mentioned

Sascha Brechtel: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Tristan Da Lio: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

Liam Fraboulet: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Vladimir Gnilozubov: 5' 8"; Junior

Blayze O'Keefe: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Jean-Laurent Pageault: 5' 11"; Senior

Zachary Grabovic: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Sascha Brechtel
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Tristan Da Lio
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

Liam Fraboulet
: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Vladimir Gnilozubov
: 5' 8"; Junior

Blayze O'Keefe
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Jean-Laurent Pageault
: 5' 11"; Senior

Zachary Grabovic
: 6' 0"; Sophomore