In the first tournament of the fall season, the Western New Mexico University men’s tennis team collected several wins across the board at the New Mexico State University Invitational this past weekend.
Redshirt sophomore Tristan Da Lio, redshirt junior Sascha Brechtel and junior Jean-Laurent Pageault all competed in the crimson singles bracket. Pageault claimed the only win of the three in their first matches as he pulled out a three set victory against Legarreta from Grand Canyon, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. He followed that up with another three set match, this time against Trecakov from NM State and although he won the first set, 6-3, he wasn’t able to win either of the next two sets falling, 4-6, 4-6. He then finished the weekend against a pair of players from Grand Canyon. He once again found himself in a three set marathon against Paul Domanski and just like the previous match, he won the first set 6-2. After dropping the second set, 5-7, he then went the distance in the third before falling, 8-10. To close the weekend he went against Hunter Holman and came close in both sets before falling, 4-6, 5-7. Da Lio opened against RoggenKamp from Grand Canyon and fell, 4-6, 3-6. He then rebounded in the consolation side of the bracket stringing together a 6-1, 6-3 win against Galeffi from Arizona Christian. Da Lio faced Schueller from Grand Canyon and lost, 1-6, 4-6. To close the weekend he went against Moore from Arizona Christian and came close in both sets, dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, 6-7 and then lost in the second, 4-6. Brechtel opened the weekend falling to Holman from Arizona Christian, 0-6, 1-6. He then faced Schueller from Grand Canyon and won five games before falling, 2-6, 3-6. He fought his way back to claim a win in his third match against Galeffi from Arizona Christian posting a 6-4, 6-4 victory. In a battle for 13th place he went against Legarreta from Grand Canyon and came out strong taking the first set, 6-4, but then dropped the next two, 1-6, 1-6.
In the white singles bracket, the new WNMU freshman Liam Fraboulet and Blayze O’Keefe competed. Fraboulet got a bye in the first round and then went against Lira from Grand Canyon. He played well under pressure as he won in straight sets taking both in tiebreaking fashion, 7-6, 7-6. He then matched up with Cvitanovic from Grand Canyon and was defeated, 1-6, 0-6. O’Keefe opened against Chazeau from Grand Canyon and won five games before falling, 4-6, 1-6. In the consolation bracket he was in a close first set against Gleason from Arizona Christian, tied at 5, before retiring. He finished the weekend strong against Munguia from Arizona Christian as he rolled to a 7-5, 6-2 victory.
In the black singles bracket, sophomore Pablo Santibanez came close in his first match against Hobbs from NM State, dropping a close 4-6 first set and then went to a tiebreaker in the second set before falling, 6-7. In the consolation bracket he rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win against Froehlich from Arizona Christian. In the consolation final, he continued the strong play taking out another player from Arizona Christian in David Castano by a score of 7-5, 6-4.
In doubles, Pageault/Santibanez went against Dehaan/Hobbs from NM State and grabbed four games before falling, 4-8. They came even closer in their next match against Gleason/Lawson from Arizona Christian as they dropped a close 6-8 decision. They regrouped a came back strong with a decisive 6-0 victory against Balenci/Lira from Grand Canyon. Then in their final match they lost to Cawthorne/Munguia from Arizona Christian after going to a tiebreaker, 7-8. Da Lio/Fraboulet opened against Goncalves/Cellupica from NM State and fell, 2-8. They then came oh so close in the consolation bracket versus Cvitanovic/Chazeau falling in a tiebreaker, 7-8. They found their stride during the third match against Hutchison/McCarty from Arizona Christian as they claimed a solid 8-2 victory. In their last match against Froehlich/Castano from Arizona Christian they were defeated, 3-6. Brechtel/O’Keefe was the final duo for the Mustangs and they opened against Schueller/RoggenKamp from Grand Canyon and lost, 3-8. They rallied in the consolation bracket against Cawthorne/Munguia from Arizona Christian rolling to the 8-5 victory. The momentum carried over into their next match versus Cvitanovic/Chazeau from Grand Canyon as they cruised to the 6-2 win. They gave it their best shot in the consolation final against Galeffi/Moore from Arizona Christian but were just beat out by a score of 5-8.
Both of the tennis teams will now prepare for the ITA Fall Regionals that will take place in San Antonio, Tex., from Sep. 25-27.