Men's Tennis Wraps Fall With Successful MSU Invite

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Southeastern men's tennis closed out the fall portion of its schedule with an outstanding showing at the Midwestern State Invitational, led by Guilherme Dos Santos and Gen Naraya taking home flight championships over the weekend.
 
"This was another great weekend for our men's team," said head coach Brian Nelson. "At the MSU Invite, there were six NCAA D2 teams total in attendance, five of which were ranked in the top 36 in last year's final D2 poll. Being able to compete and win multiple championships shows we have gotten stronger this semester. Gui Dos Santos #1 singles title was very impressive, beating all three men in his draw which made the ITA Cup two weeks ago (only top 16 in the country)."
 
"Also we are showing great depth," Nelson continued, "Winning lower draws at several of the past few tournaments. Without having a season last fall, our newcomers were thrown into the fire this past spring. Now with all of this competition this fall, it should help our men be ready for what is to come this spring. We will rest up, focus on academics, and look forward to a big spring semester ahead."
 
Dos Santos win maybe the most impressive singles tournament this semester as all three of his singles opponents were qualifiers for the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga., two weeks ago.
 
He won his opening round quarterfinal over Gonzalo Fernandez (UT Tyler) 7-6; 6-4, and followed it up by defeating Midwestern's Alex Martinez Rocha 7-5; 7-6 to make the championship match. Rocha made it to the semi-finals at the ITA cup.
 
In the championship match, Dos Santos dropped the first set and was down 2-4 in the second, then got the break back and ended up winning the second set 7-5 and the super tiebreak 10-5 to take the flight title.
 
In the flight six singles draw, Naraya won his bracket with three straight wins. In his quarterfinal match, he defeated Kristian Kubik (Cameron) 6-2; 6-4, then squeaked by Jean Muniz of Midwestern State 6-7; 6-3; 10-8.
 
In the championship match, he cruised past Jorge Sala from UT Tyler 6-3; 6-2 to win the flight #6 singles title.
 
In the flight five singles draw, Filip Smid won his first two matches to get to the championship against UT Tyler's Yudai Watanabi.
 
After a very close first set which saw Smid lose it in a tiebreaker, Watanabi cruised in the second set, 6-1. On the way to the championship, Smid defeated Timon Kohler (UTPB) in three sets and then Marek Slojweski (Cameron).
 
SE had several other notable performances, with Manuel Pilotto placing fourth in draw two and Diego Orduz finishing fifth in draw three.
 
Also, Marin Jurkovic finished fourth in draw four, and then partnered with Dos Santos and the pair finished third in the number one doubles flight. Diego Orduz and Marcus Del Rosario placed also turned in a third place finish in flight two doubles, while Naraya and Smid also finished third in flight three doubles.