SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's tennis team extended its winning streak to five matches in a row, defeating 66th-ranked Wichita State on Sunday afternoon, 4-0. The victory was also UTSA's second straight over a nationally ranked opponent as UTSA beat 53rd-ranked Florida Atlantic on Friday.
The Roadrunners (7-4) earned their third victory over a ranked opponent in the past two seasons and their third sweep of the season. The Shockers (7-7) dropped their second straight match, having also lost to Florida State on Saturday afternoon.
Quoting Coach Avdeyev
"Our guys played some great tennis today. We started a bit slow in doubles, but we battled back and didn't give up. I felt like I saw our best doubles action of the season today with how resilient they were. We carried that momentum into singles action and were able to stay focused and disciplined for the rest of the match. I'm especially proud of Sebastian and how he stepped up in his doubles play and his ability to finish his singles. Overall, I'm really happy with how we performed this weekend. It was a very strong showing."
Doubles
In the first action of the afternoon, UTSA claimed the first doubles victory of the day as Tiago Torres/Alan Magadan dispatched of the Shockers' Kristof Minarik/Alex Richards (7-5). The next doubles match to finish was the third court which saw Wichita State's Richey King/Alejandro Jacome bounce Garrett Skelly/Jackson Ross (78-66). That meant it all came down to the second court where UTSA had Tomás Pinho/Sebastian Rodriguez matched up against Orel Ovil/Misha Kvantaliani of WSU. Just like the previous match, Pinho and Rodriguez saw their match head to a tiebreaker where they were able to get the best of Wichita State's duo to secure the doubles point for the Roadrunners (77-65).
Singles
Following doubles action, UTSA kept up the pressure, taking three straight singles matchups to claim a 4-0 victory and render the remaining three matches as obsolete as they went unfinished. Torres was the first to win his singles match as the sophomore from Portugal bested Minarik (6-0, 6-2). Not even five minutes later, Rodriguez wrapped up his singles match on court three. Rodriguez disposed of Ovil (6-3, 6-3) to put the Roadrunners on top, 3-0 and needing just one more point to win. Magadan pulled through and wrapped up his play on court two in two sets (6-3, 6-4) to secure the victory over the Shockers. Pinho, Danijal Muminovic and Skelly all had their singles match go unfinished.
Up Next
UTSA will return to action next Saturday, March 4, when it heads to College Station to face off with the Texas A&M Aggies. Next Saturday's match is set to begin at 6 p.m.
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