No. 26 Men’s Tennis Wins Epic 5-4 Senior Day Match Versus No. 21 Midwestern State

SILVER CITY, N.M. – Just like the match the day before against Cameron, both teams were right there and had a chance to win. The Western New Mexico University men's tennis team faced a 4-4 tie and it all came down to sophomore Blayze O'Keefe (Las Vegas, NV/Odyssey Charter)'s match and he delivered winning in three sets to lift the No. 26 Mustangs past Midwestern State 5-4 Saturday in Lone Star Conference action.

O'Keefe had to battle to not only win his match, but to send his team to the victory as he fell behind 5-7 in his match at No. 6. O'Keefe recovered and after fighting off several break points in the second set, he claimed the second 6-3. Early in the third, he broke and held his serve to move in front 2-0 and never looked back in winning the set 6-1.

Before all the drama came down to the final match, WNMU (13-7, 2-1 LSC) held a 2-1 lead after doubles. O'Keefe started his day with a solid victory with sophomore teammate Zachary Grabovic (South Bank, Australia/St. Kevin's College) as they rolled to the 8-3 win at No. 3. Senior Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes)/sophomore Liam Fraboulet (Lycée Kerraoul, Paimpol, France/Lycée Kerraoul) added an 8-5 win at No. 2 for the 2-0 lead. The No. 3 ranked duo in the nation of redshirt junior Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes)/junior Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) went right down to the wire. They ended up going into a tiebreaker at the top flight before Midwestern State (13-9, 1-2 LSC) came away with the 9-8 win.

In singles, Gnilozubov got the Mustangs rolling early as he dominated in his match at No. 3 posting the 6-1, 6-4 victory. MSU answered back with a win at the top flight as Fraboulet fell to No. 9 ranked Toyos, 1-6, 2-6. Pageault put WNMU back in front with his 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2 and then MSU worked their way back in to tie the match at four. Da Lio fell 5-7, 1-6 at No. 4 and then redshirt junior Sascha Brechtel (Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany/Kurpfalz Gymnasium Mannheim ) was in a battle at No. 5. After dropping the first set, 3-6, he rebounded with the 6-2 victory before falling short in the third, 1-6.

That set the stage for O'Keefe's match that was still in the first set when the other matches had all completed. It was a big regional match as MSU entered as No. 1 and WNMU No. 3, with the top four teams advancing to the South Central Regional on Apr. 29-30.

WNMU will travel to Phoenix to face Hawaii Pacific Monday before preparing for the Lone Star Conference Championships that will take place Apr. 21-22 in Arlington, Texas. Cameron held off UT Permian Basin, 5-4, to win the outright regular season championship and will be the top seed in the tournament.

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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