Box Score TYLER, TEXAS – For the second consecutive season and in just the second season of NCAA Division II eligibility, the UT Tyler men's tennis program is heading to the NCAA Round of 16 after defeating Midwestern State 4-1 at the Summers Tennis Center on Friday.
 
The Patriots would drop the first match of the day as Jonas Dixon and Jordi Garcia Portell would fall narrowly in the #3 doubles slot by a score of 6-4. However, Gonzalo Fernandez Gil and Egor Shestakov battled right back by taking their own win at 6-4 to even up the doubles matches.
 
That meant the doubles point would come down to match #2, and Joaquin Bianchi and Carel Wessel worked dead even with their Mustangs counterparts as both teams tied at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 5-5, and eventually 6-6 as they would have to go to a tiebreaker.
 
In that tiebreaker, the Patriots duo ran out to a big 5-1 lead that gave them plenty of cushion before securing the win at 7-4 to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead heading into the singles matches.
 
In those singles matches, the Mustangs seized the first point as they took down Yudai Watanabe by scores of 6-2, 6-4 to even the match at 1-1. However, just like in doubles, the Patriots had an answer. Fernandez Gil would get things going back in the Patriots direction as he rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win to move the lead back to 2-1.
 
Needing a pair of wins to complete the win, the Patriots saw both Shestakov and Garcia Portell battle back after losing their first sets to tie their respective matches to continue to keep the Mustangs at bay.
 
Almost 30 minutes after Fernandez Gil concluded his match, Bianchi delivered a 6-4, 6-4 straight sets win of his own to give UT Tyler their third point.
 
In singles match #4, Wessel would battle to ties of 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4 in his first set before taking the last two games consecutively to secure a 6-4 first set win.
 
In set two, the Mustangs would take the early advantage as they led 4-2. Wessel would again fall behind 5-3, but he turned on the heat on his way to winning four straight games to secure a 7-5 win and a Patriots 4-1 victory.
 
For UT Tyler, they will now wait for the NCAA to release the re-seeding next week to see who they will play in the Round of 16. Each team that advances to Lake Nona, Florida will be re-seeded prior to competition.
 
The NCAA Tournament will begin May 11 and run through May 16.