The No. 41 men’s tennis team traveled west over the weekend for the WAC Championships in Honolulu, and they got off on the right foot at the University of Hawaii Tennis Complex.
The Mustangs, who finished the regular season at 14-11, jumped to an early lead on the host Rainbow Warriors, by sweeping through two doubles sets in the quarterfinals.
After senior Paul McNaughton and sophomore Federico Murgier defeated their opponents, 8-4. Juniors Henrik Soderberg and Peter Oredsson ousted Hawaii’s Ryan Sceats and Jarrod Diepraam by a score of 8-2.
Gwinyai Chingoka and David Kuezer did not finish their doubles set, and SMU was on top, 1-0.
Though the Rainbow Warriors won straight sets to start singles play, the Mustangs rallied to win at Nos. 4, 5 and 6.
Oredsson clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Diepraam, and SMU won, 4-2.
Soderberg felt the early doubles wins set a positive tone for the rest of the match.
“Everybody worked together as a team,” he said. “I think it was a really good effort.”
The win propelled SMU into the semifinals against No. 39, Rice on Saturday. The Mustangs routed the Owls, 5-1, in the final regular-season match last week.
Again, SMU took a 1-0 lead after winning two doubles sets with scores of 8-5.
It was, however, the last time the team would lead, as Rice won the first two singles sets to go up, 2-1.
At No. 4, Oredsson provided the Mustangs’ only singles victory to knot the score, but the Owls’ Robert Searle, ranked No. 40 in the nation, defeated McNaughton 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to seal a 4-2 Rice win.
Although the loss knocked SMU out of the WAC Championships, players were pleased with their hard-fought effort against the Owls.
“Everything didn’t really click for us,” Soderberg said. “There were some tight matches that could have gone our way.”
Against Rice, three of the five singles sets were decided by scores of 6-3 or 6-4.
Boise State beat the Owls Sunday, 4-3, to give the Broncos their second WAC Men’s Tennis Championship.
The team returned from Honolulu early this morning, and players will get right back to work practicing for the NCAA Regionals, which are set to begin on May 13.
