RICHARDSON, Texas — The St. Mary's University Men's Tennis team moved into a tie for fourth place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 6-1 win over UT Dallas on Saturday afternoon, setting up a huge contest on Sunday to wrap up the regular season.
The Rattlers are tied with Midwestern State, and the two teams will square off at Rohrbach Tennis Stadium at 2 p.m. on Sunday, after the match was rescheduled from last weekend. Both teams have qualified for the conference tournament but are playing for seeding for the annual championship in Arlington, Texas, though the No. 4 and 5 seeds meet in the first round and will play again on April 30.
"We played much better doubles than yesterday, and that set the tone for us," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "It's always great to pick up a road win in our conference."
Sophomore
Lincoln Baldonado (Glendale, Ariz.) and freshman
Nikita Gavrilonoks (Riga, Latvia) paired back up for only the second time in LSC play, and the first time since March 15, to get the Rattlers started on the right foot with a 6-2 victory at line three doubles.
Junior
Louis Hein (Hamburg, Germany) and senior
Fabian Rosales (Hollywood, Fla.) improved to 4-3 this spring with a 6-3 win on court one to give St. Mary's the first point of the afternoon.
In singles play, sophomore
Florian Smalto (Paris, France) doubled the team score after winning in straight sets at line four with his 6-0, 6-3 win. Junior
Leonardo Fabbri (Faenza, Italy) kept things rolling with his 6-3, 6-1 victory on court three, and Gavrilonoks clinched the victory, dropping only two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win at number five singles.
Sophomore
Lucas Castillo Sanchez (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) won 6-4, 6-3 on court one, while senior
Aaron Ben Anton (Remseck, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) scored the sixth and final point for the Rattlers after dropping only one game in each set at line six.
Lubbock Christian locked up the regular-season title with a 6-1 win over UT Permian Basin on Saturday.
