SURPRISE, ARIZONA – UT Tyler men's tennis has advanced into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third straight year after a 4-1 runaway win over No. 13 seed Charleston on Wednesday.
The No. 4 seed Patriots will now move on to face No. 5 seed Catawba on Thursday at 11 a.m. Central time back at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
UT Tyler jumped out early on the Golden Eagles, taking the doubles point behind a pair of strong performances in the #3 and #1 lines.
Samuel Antwi and
Trevor Short got things going with a 6-3 win in line #3, and they were followed just minutes later by
Carel Wessel and
Daniil Felker, who added their own 6-3 win in the #1 line to put the Patriots up 1-0 heading into singles.
In those singles matches,
Malo Poulesquen set the tone with his match to the tune of a blistering straight sets win. In his first set, he won each of the first four games, riding that wave up to a 6-1 win. In his second set he would drop the first game, but responded with six straight wins and a second consecutive 6-1 set to double the Patriots lead.
Less, than 10 minutes later, Wessel would carry over the strong doubles play into the #2 line, putting the Patriots just one step from securing the win. An early deficit in set one at 1-3 would grow into 2-4, but he would dig his heels in and rattle off four straight game wins to take the first set at 6-4. That momentum rolled like a tidal wave, and he ran with it to win six straight games in set two, securing a 6-0 win and the third point for the Patriots.
Charleston would battle back with a straight sets win in line #4, and then forced a third set in each remaining match to put pressure back on the Patriots side.
With a 3-1 lead for the team and down a set,
Artiom Dorofeev in line #1 answered the call to perfection. He would drop his opening set 2-6, but came battling back in the second set to take a 3-2 lead. That lead would grow out to 4-3, and he capped it off with two straight game wins to even the sets count at one each.
That set up a final set to determine the match, and Dorofeev took control early with a 2-1 lead. That lead would grow out to 4-2, but he had all of the momentum on his way to a 6-2 win in the third set to make it a 4-1 final score in favor of UT Tyler.
Doubles:
1. #14
Daniil Felker/
Carel Wessel (UTT) def. #38 Omar Elsamahy/Vicente Garcia (CWVA) 6-3
2.
Job Japelj/
Malo Poulesquen (UTT) vs. Elias Lagger/Batsomi Marobela (CWVA) 5-2, unfinished
3.
Samuel Antwi/
Trevor Short (UTT) def. Alberto Nordio/Nils Pottbecker (CWVA) 6-3
Singles:
1. #38
Artiom Dorofeev (UTT) def. Vicente Garcia (CWVA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. #50
Carel Wessel (UTT) def. Omar Elsamahy (CWVA) 6-4, 6-0
3. #19
Malo Poulesquen (UTT) def. Elias Lagger (CWVA) 6-1, 6-1
4. Nils Pottbecker (CWVA) def. #12
Samuel Antwi (UTT) 6-2, 6-4
5.
Daniil Felker (UTT) vs. Alberto Nordio (CWVA) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0, unfinished
