No. 22 Men’s Tennis Set for Regional Matchup with No. 20 Rattlers

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A familiar site this time of the year is once again happening for the Western New Mexico University men's tennis team as the No. 22 Mustangs are playing in the postseason and will look to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2012.

The last run to the NCAA Championships WNMU won the RMAC Tournament over Nebraska Kearney and then defeated St. Cloud State in the regional matchup before facing one of the top teams in the nation in Lynn in the first round of the NCAA Championships and falling short. The season before that in 2011 the Mustangs made the most noise they have had so far in program history when they won the RMAC Tournament against MSU Billings, defeated St. Cloud State in the regional matchup and then took down West Virginia Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA Championships. In an elite eight matchup, the Mustangs squared off with Columbus State and fell just short. Starting in the 2009 season, WNMU had a string of four straight NCAA Championship appearances.

Last year, the Mustangs were knocked out of the regional field by an auto bid out of the Heartland Conference. The year before in 2015, WNMU hosted St. Edward's and the match came down to one last point before the Hilltoppers took the 5-4 win. In 2014, it was a road matchup with Cameron as the Aggies claimed the 5-2 victory. The year after their last NCAA appearance in 2013, WNMU came close to defeating Midwestern State on the road in regional action before a 5-3 setback.

It will be a familiar matchup for the two teams in the South Central Region matchup this Saturday against No. 20 St. Mary's as the Rattlers and Mustangs played each other in Midland, Texas back on Mar. 10 with St. Mary's claiming the 8-1 victory. WNMU claimed their only point at the top flight doubles match with the 9-8 win. WNMU came close at No. 3 doubles with a 6-8 loss. In singles, three matches went three sets with redshirt junior Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes) falling 5-7 in his third set. Junior Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) and redshirt junior Sascha Brechtel (Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany/Kurpfalz Gymnasium Mannheim ) also went three sets in their matches as well.

Gnilozubov leads the team with 14 singles victories, followed by senior Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes) with 11, Brechtel with nine and Da Lio with eight. In doubles, Da Lio/Gnilozubov, along with sophomore Liam Fraboulet (Lycée Kerraoul, Paimpol, France/Lycée Kerraoul)/Pageault have each won 14 matches this year.

WNMU is 13-9 this season and come in fourth in the region. St. Mary's comes in first in the region with a 17-6 record and winners of 10 straight matches. The Rattlers rolled to the Heartland Conference regular season and tournament titles, besting Newman 5-0 last week to win the conference tournament.

Adam Dockery has tallied 18 singles victories and has won 10 straight, as he has played at No. 4 and No. 3. Jeremiah Gonzalez and Alex Joseph had added 13 wins apiece with Gonzalez playing at No. 1 through No. 3 and Joseph and No. 4 through No. 6. In doubles, Dockery/Gonzalez have 15 wins playing at No. 1, Jose Antelo/Michael Maciel have 13 wins at No. 2, while Joseph/Bojan Popovic also have 13 wins playing mostly at No. 3.

Live video and stats will be available for the match that will start at 10 a.m. Central Time tomorrow (Saturday). The other South Central Region match will feature No. 21 Cameron hosting No. 25 Midwestern State on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central Time. The winners of each match will advance to the NCAA Championships.

Print Friendly Version

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

Jean-Laurent Pageault: 5' 11"; Senior

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

Jean-Laurent Pageault
: 5' 11"; Senior