TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's tennis tasted their first postseason success of the Division II era on Thursday and they will look to continue their run as they take on Cameron in the semifinals of the LSC tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday in Arlington, Texas at the Arlington Tennis Center.
A BIG WIN FOR THE PROGRAM
The Patriots earned their first postseason win of the Division II era thanks to a big 4-0 sweep of UT Permian Basin on Thursday afternoon. This was the first season that UT Tyler was eligible to compete following a mandatory probationary period during the transition from Division III to Division II.
The Patriots dropped just one doubles match on the day but still secured the point. Then the program got three quick wins in straight sets to get them to the four point mark and claim the victory.
SERIES HISTORY
The Patriots and the Aggies have faced off just two times in their program's histories, and both of those contests have come within the last two seasons. On April 3, 2021, the Patriots came away with a 5-2 victory. They followed that up with a close 4-3 victory on March 25 of this season to claim the 2-0 series advantage.
In the matchup earlier this season, the Patriots won two of the three doubles matches to secure the first point. In singles,
Moritz Mayer,
Yudai Watanabe, and
Jonas Dixon each won their matches to lead the Patriots to a 4-3 win.
THE SCOUTING REPORT
A pair of players lead the way for Cameron in singles as Tomas Almeida and Thomas Cardona were each named to the All-LSC First Team Singles team and were named the Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively.
Cardona is 7-0 against LSC competition this season and did not have to complete his opening round match after the Aggies secured the winning point. Almeida sits at 6-1 against the LSC this year and produced a 6-2, 6-0 straight sets win in his opening round matchup.
In doubles, it is the pair of Cardona and Almeida who lead the way as they were each named to the All-LSC Second Team Doubles team. The duo is 6-1 on the season and claimed a 6-2 victory in the #1 doubles slot in their first round matchup.
Coaching the Aggies is Josh Cobble. Cobble was named as the head coach of the men's and women's programs at Cameron in January of 2017. Under his leadership, Cobble led the Aggies to an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight last season where they ultimately fell to #1 Columbus State.
ON THE HORIZON
The winner of tomorrow's contest will move on to the LSC tournament championship match. That contest will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Arlington, Texas at the Arlington Tennis Center.
The opening round matchups between Midwestern State and DBU and UAFS and St. Mary's have yet to be completed, and therefore the semifinal teams have yet to be determined. That semifinal contest will be played on Friday at 1 p.m.
The winner of the LSC tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA South Central Regional tournament to be held on May 9-10 at a site to be determined.
