The SMU men’s tennis team seems to have hit their stride with a sweep of Cameron University, 7-0, at Turpin Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 20. This is the Mustangs’ third straight victory and fifth out of their last six matches.

The Mustangs’ only slip up was in doubles, when the No. 1 pair of David Costa and Tobias Flood were defeated by their opponents in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (4). However, No. 2 and No. 3 doubles were there to pick up the slack and claim the point for the Mustangs.

No. 3 doubles was particularly impressive, with Artem Baradach and Chris Hooshyar completely shutting out their opponents for the win, 8-0. No. 2 doubles also claimed an easy victory, with Darren Walsh and Adham el-Effendi teaming up for the win, 8-2.

Singles play was even more impressive than doubles, with the Mustangs winning all six matches, five of which were won in straight sets. Pablo Perez-Espanaola continued his strong play, improving his team-best singles record to 7-1 on the year in the No. 6 slot with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

No. 1 singles Baradach also played well, defeating his opponent 6-2, 6-2. No. 4 Walsh was the only Mustang to play more than two sets in the event. Walsh lost his first set, 2-6, but won the second set, 6-2, to force a third set tiebreaker. With his match on the line, Walsh came up big, defeating his opponent, 10-3, for the win.

“I thought we played very well,” said head coach Carl Neufeld in an interview with smumustangs.com. “We had great effort and energy and really kept our focus for the whole match. It was certainly exciting to see.”