No. 21 MSU Wins Rematch Against No. 26 Men’s Tennis at LSC Championships

ARLINGTON, Texas – Having faced each other less than a week ago, the result was much different this time as No. 21 Midwestern State was able to defeat the No. 26 Western New Mexico University men's tennis team 5-1 in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Championships on Friday.

WNMU (13-9) claimed an epic 5-4 win last Saturday in Silver City over Midwestern State (14-9), but the rematch went totally different this time with Midwestern State able to take the victory and advance to the LSC title match against Cameron.

Doubles started out 2-1 for MSU, whereas WNMU held a 2-1 lead a week ago after doubles. Senior Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes)/sophomore Liam Fraboulet (Lycée Kerraoul, Paimpol, France/Lycée Kerraoul) cruised to an 8-3 win at No. 2. The No. 3 ranked doubles pair of redshirt junior Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes)/junior Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) nearly went the distance again at the top flight, but fell just short, 7-9. Sophomores Blayze O'Keefe (Las Vegas, NV/Odyssey Charter)/Zachary Grabovic (South Bank, Australia/St. Kevin's College) tallied five games before a 5-8 loss at No. 3.

In singles, MSU claimed wins at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 to clinch the victory. Redshirt junior Sascha Brechtel (Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany/Kurpfalz Gymnasium Mannheim ) nearly recovered from a 1-6 loss in the first set and put together a strong second set before a 5-7 loss at No. 5. O'Keefe fell by the same set scores of 1-6 at No. 6 and then Fraboulet fell at the top flight to No. 9 Ramon Toyos, 1-6, 0-6 to give MSU the win.

The Mustangs were doing well on some of the other matches as Pageault won the first set 6-4 and was tied 3-3 in the second at No. 2. Gnilozubov grabbed the first set 6-4 and held a 5-2 lead in the second at No. 3. Da Lio was in the third set in his match at No. 4 as he lost the first, 3-6, but came back with a 6-3 win in the second and was down 0-1 in the third.

WNMU will now have to wait to see if they will make the NCAA South Central Region tournament field. The selection show will air this coming Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time. The Mustangs were ranked third in the latest rankings this week.

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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