Men's Tennis takes down UAFS for berth in Heartland title match

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

DALLAS — It's on to the Heartland Conference Championship for St. Mary's Men's Tennis as they were able to capture a victory in the conference semifinal matchup against UA Fort Smith, 5-2, on Friday.

The Rattlers, who were recently named the No. 24 team in the nation, were able to avenge last year's loss to Newman and reach the championship match, which will take place Saturday at 9 a.m.

The Rattlers (14-10) were able to take the early advantage against the Lions as they took two of three doubles matches in the opening frame.

The No. 2 team of Michael Maciel and Jose Antelo started off the affair with a dominant 8-0 win over Grady McCain and Luke Anderson to put the Rattlers ahead 1-0. No. 3 Felix Hollaway and Aldo Maldonado would continue the winning trend as they were able to top UAFS's Eli Harper and Gavin Beach, 8-2. The Lions would eventually take the No. 1 match to make the overall score 2-1 heading into singles play.

St Mary's would extend their lead, with the freshman Hollaway continuing his winning ways at No. 5 by knocking off Grady McCain 6-1, 6-2 to make the score 3-1. The Lions, however, would not go down without a fight as Gavin Beach was able to take the decision Antelo 6-1, 6-4 to cut their deficit in half.

With the Rattlers only needing two victories to seize the match, Adam Dockery and Richie Foley would avenge their earlier doubles loss to claim the berth to the Heartland Conference final.

Dockery would win convincingly, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles over Eric Manning. This would eventually set up the Irishman Foley to clinch the all deciding point as he went on to defeat the Lions' Pedro Carvalho with a flawless second set, 6-4, 6-0.

The Rattlers will compete against St. Edward's on Saturday for a chance to add to their regular-season Heartland Conference championship with a tournament title.

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Players Mentioned

Adam Dockery: 5' 8"; Junior

Michael Maciel: 5' 7"; Junior

Aldo Maldonado: Sophomore

Felix Hollaway: 6' 0"; Freshman

Jose Antelo: 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Adam Dockery
: 5' 8"; Junior

Michael Maciel
: 5' 7"; Junior

Aldo Maldonado
: Sophomore

Felix Hollaway
: 6' 0"; Freshman

Jose Antelo
: 5' 9"; Freshman

St. Mary's University Athletics

Scoreboard

Men's Tennis takes down UAFS for berth in Heartland title match

Players Mentioned

Adam Dockery

Michael Maciel

Aldo Maldonado

Felix Hollaway

Jose Antelo

Players Mentioned

Adam Dockery

Michael Maciel

Aldo Maldonado

Felix Hollaway

Jose Antelo

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