KERRVILLE, Texas – The University of St. Thomas men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the postseason Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament in exciting fashion Friday as the Celts defeated Schreiner 5-4.
With the win, the Celts (5-9) will meet Trinity (Texas), the conference's regular-season champion and top seed at the tournament. UST and the Tigers will begin play at 2 p.m. at Schreiner University.
The team match went the distance as every singles and doubles match was needed to determine the winner. The Celts fell behind 2-1 after doubles play with Race Haas and Tyler Head salvaging a point for UST in flight two with an 8-7 win over Dennis Miller and Mario Gallnar.
As singles play progressed, the Celts reclaimed a 4-2 lead as the first three matches to finish went to UST in front of a pro-Schreiner crowd. In flight three, Head cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Gallinar, which was followed by Juanrodrigo Lopez defeating Schreiner's Carson Kirk 6-3, 6-2 in flight one.
In flight four, Jace Ware easily took the first set from Austin Cervantes 6-0 but needed an extra game to win the second set 7-5.
The Mountaineers won flights five and six, which put all eyes on flight two, where Haas and Miller engaged in a memorable battle that needed three sets. After Haas dropped the first set 7-6 (7-5), he rebounded to win set two 7-5. In the third set, Haas sent the Celts into the next round with a 6-3 win.
Celts 5, Schreiner 4
Singles competition
1. Juanrodrigo Lopez (UST) def. Carson Kirk (SCH) 6-3, 6-2
2. Race Haas (UST) def. Dennis Miller (SCH) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3
3. Tyler Head (UST) def. Mario Gallinar (SCH) 6-3, 6-1
4. Jace Ware (UST) def. Austin Cervantes (SCH) 6-0, 7-5
5. Jonathan Barragan (SCH) def. Carson Steele (UST) 6-1, 7-5
6. Quinten Robertson (SCH) def. Jeremiah Hoover (UST) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Kirk/Cervantes (SCH) def. Juanrodrigo Lopez/Jace Ware (UST) 8-2
2. Race Haas/Tyler Head (UST) def. Miller/Gallinar (SCH) 8-7 (9-7)
3. Robertson/Max Schechter (SCH) def. Carson Steele/Jeremiah Hoover (UST) 8-4
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,6,5,2)
