ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLORIDA - #3 seed UT Tyler men's tennis will head to the Final Four for the first time in program history after a 4-3 win over #6 seed Azusa Pacific on Wednesday afternoon.
 
In doubles, the Patriots led off with a win by their #3 line of Job Japelj and Trevor Short as they combined for a 7-5 win. The Cougars would battle back with a 6-2 win in line #2, setting up the #1 line to play for the decisive doubles point.
 
In that line, the #6 ranked pair of Daniil Felker and Carel Wessel lined up against the #14 ranked pair, and the match would be forced into a tiebreaker at 6-6. In that tiebreaker it was all Patriots, as they rolled to a 7-3 win and a 1-0 lead.
 
In singles, Jordi Garcia Portell got things rolling as he delivered a 6-2, 6-2 straight sets win to move the Patriots quickly ahead 2-0 and just two points away from match point.
 
The Cougars however would not go down quietly. They rattled off three straight wins in the #1, #2, and #3 lines, all in straight sets, to take the lead for the first time in the match and force it to match point in their favor.
 
Daniil Felker would split his first two sets in the #4 line with a 6-1, 1-6 score. That set him up with a third set battle, where he would come out on top with a 6-4 win and earn the third Patriots point of the day and tie the score at 3-3.
 
That brought the entire match down to the #5 line, where Malo Poulesquen stood with a chance to put the Patriots into the final four. He dropped his first set 2-6, but rallied in a big way with a 6-3 win. That set up the deciding third set, and he delivered a 6-4 win to put the fourth and final Patriots point on the board.
 
The Patriots will now have a day off on Thursday before preparing for their semifinal match on Friday. That match is set for 8 a.m. eastern time against the #7 seed Washburn back at Sanlando Park.