Box Score SURPRISE, Ariz. – The 35
th-ranked MSU Denver men's tennis team suffered an excruciatingly close loss to No. 31 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) in the first round of the Pacific West Conference Tournament on Thursday in a 4-1 decision that was much, much closer than the final score indicated.
The Roadrunners were one game away from clinching the doubles point before Azusa Pacific rallied, and then five of the six singles matches went three sets before the Cougars prevailed.
In doubles,
Dayton Fisher and
Carlos Pinedo breezed to a 6-2 win at No. 3, but it was a knock-down, drag-out at the other two spots, with Azusa Pacific winning each 7-6 in tiebreakers. At No. 1, the 50
th-ranked Roadrunner team of
Juho Kantola and
David Kijak rallied from a 4-0 deficit to get to the tiebreaker against Azusa Pacific's 37
th-ranked pair, while
Jeanloup Auzias and
Billy McDermott were unable to hold onto their lead at No. 2 and were beaten in the tiebreaker.
"We had our opportunities in the doubles point, and we just couldn't quite finish," MSU Denver coach Josh Graetz said. "That really hurt us."
In singles,
Alejandro Jimenez rallied to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3, and Auzias,
Stephen Kossifas and Pinedo each won the first set at Nos. 1, 4 and 5. Kantola forced a third set at No. 2 before falling 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and Pinedo was defeated 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Azusa Pacific's other win came at No. 6 singles, where McDermott was beaten 6-4, 6-4.
"The singles matches could have gone either way, but I'm proud of how we competed," Graetz said. "Five of the six matches went to three sets and every match was tight.
"Today was a rollercoaster and a physical match, and it's a tough pill to swallow that it didn't go our way."
MSU Denver drops into the PacWest's consolation bracket where it plays Fresno Pacific (Calif.) on Friday at 2 p.m. MDT (1 p.m. in Arizona). The Roadrunners can finish as high as fifth.
The defeat most likely means MSU Denver won't be able to reach the NCAA Tournament as one of four teams from the West Region (which is made up of the same 10 PacWest teams).
Thursday's dual was MSU Denver's first chance to play against any of the five teams sitting atop the PacWest and West Region rankings, a scheduling constraint that negatively impacts the Roadrunners' strength-of-schedule and limits the team's opportunity to qualify as an at-large participant for the NCAA Tournament.
