The SMU men’s tennis team (14-9) kept its hot streak alive with a 7-0 win over the University of Texas-Arlington Tuesday afternoon at Turpin Tennis Stadium.
“I thought we played really well,” said head coach Carl Neufeld. “They were fired up as they usually are to play us.”
Against the Mavericks (9-10), SMU took the doubles point despite sophomores Darren Walsh and Adham el-Effendi suffering their first loss after 11-straight wins.
In the top doubles spot, junior Robin Fahgen and freshman David Costa teamed up to defeat UTA’s Dmitry Minkin and Mindaugas Celedinas (8-5).
Fahgen returned to top Celedinas in the No. 1 singles spot (6-2, 6-2).
Costa, after splitting the first two sets against Minkin (6-4, 3-6), was able to win the tiebreaker by a score of 12-10.
Sophomore Artem Baradach also pulled off a tiebreaking win in the No. 3 singles slot. Following a split of the first two sets (6-4, 5-7), Baradach came back to beat the Mavericks’ Brieuc Hamon, 10-6.
“All the guys played awesome,” Neufeld said. “It was a great team effort for us.”
The victory gives the Mustangs seven wins in their last nine matches, something Neufeld attributes to a full roster as well as collaborating as a team.
“These last two matches are the first two where we’ve actually had everybody healthy and available for the match,” he said, “and that’s a big difference when you have all your best players on the court.”
SMU’s final regular-season game of the year comes this weekend against the No. 35 Rice Owls (13-9) in Houston. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.