SAN ANTONIO — In the final tuneup before turning its attention to Lone Star Conference play, the St. Mary's University Men's Tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to NCAA Division III No. 3 Case Western Reserve on Tuesday afternoon.
"The men played really well in singles and played at a high level against one of the top D3 teams in the country, but Case Western's experience prevailed," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "It could've been a little bit of a difference maker had we played more efficient doubles."
The duo of sophomore
Lincoln Baldonado (Glendale, Ariz.) and freshman
Nikita Gavrilonoks (Riga, Latvia) improved to 3-0 on the season with their 6-4 victory at number two doubles, but CWRU (12-2) had already won at number 1 and 3 doubles to take the first point. Their winning streak is the longest active streak in doubles play, and second this spring to only sophomore
Lucas Castillo Sanchez (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and freshman
Victor Velter (Perpignan, France), who won their first four together and are now 4-1.
Five of the six singles matches went the distance, with the Rattlers battling tough despite playing past nine o'clock on Monday. Freshman
Florian Smalto (Paris, France) pushed Rohan Bhat to a tiebreaker in the first set, winning 7-6 (8-6) before Bhat responded with a 6-4 set two win. Smalto was able to gain control and win 6-3 in the final set for the lone point for the Rattlers (9-2).
Castillo Sanchez also played a tiebreaker, doing so in the second set. He won the first set 6-3 before dropping the next two 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4 to suffer his first defeat of 2026.
Gavrilonoks faced the only nationally-ranked player for the Spartans, pushing No. 36 Jon Totorica at number three singles. Gavrilonoks won set one with a late break of serve, 7-5, before Totorica adjusted for the 6-4 and 6-2 set wins.
The Rattlers will host their annual Alumni Game on Saturday, March 14, at 10 a.m. before beginning Lone Star Conference play against No. 35 Cameron on March 15 at 2 p.m.
