KERRVILLE, Texas -- Friday evening's last match proved to be the closest as fourth-seeded University of St. Thomas slipped past host and fifth-seeded Schreiner University, 5-4, to advance to the semifinal round of the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship. Official Website l Postmatch Interview | Photo Album
With the match tied at 4-4, everything came down to No. 2 singles as St. Thomas' Race Haas and Schreiner's Dennis Miller battled to a third and deciding set. After dropping the first set, 7-6 (7-5), Haas battled back to take the next two sets, 7-5 and 6-3, to take the point and propel the Celts into Saturday's semifinal round.
Schreiner jumped out to a 2-1 lead following doubles play as Carson Kirk and Austin Cervantes defeated Juanrodrigo Lopez and Jace Ware, 8-2, at No. 1 and Quinten Robertson and Max Schecter pulled out an 8-4 win at No. 3 over the Celts' Carson Steele and Jeremiah Hoover. Haas and Tyler Head salvaged a point for St. Thomas at No. 2 with an 8-7 (9-7) win over Miller and Mario Gallinar.
Needing to win four of the six singles matches, Lopez, Head and Ware all took straight set wins to give St. Thomas the 4-2 lead, but Schreiner's Jonathan Barragan at No. 5 and Robertson at No. 6 each won to even the match at 4, setting up the dramatic ending between Haas and Miller.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS 5, SCHREINER UNIVERSITY 4
April 29, 2022 at Kerrville, Texas (Cree Family Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Juanrodrigo Lopez (UST) def. Carson Kirk (SCH) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2. Race Haas (UST) def. Dennis Miller (SCH) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3 |
| 3. Tyler Head (UST) def. Mario Gallinar (SCH) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 4. Jace Ware (UST) def. Austin Cervantes (SCH) 6-0, 7-5 |
| 5. Jonathan Barragan (SCH) def. Carson Steele (UST) 6-1, 7-5 |
| 6. Quinten Robertson (SCH) def. Jeremiah Hoover (UST) 6-0, 6-1 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Carson Kirk/Austin Cervantes (SCH) def. Juanrodrigo Lopez/Jace Ware (UST) 8-2 |
| 2. Race Haas/Tyler Head (UST) def. Dennis Miller/Mario Gallinar (SCH) 8-7 (9-7) |
| 3. Quinten Robertson/Max Schechter (SCH) def. Carson Steele/Jeremiah Hoover (UST) 8-4 |
| Match Notes |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,6,5,2) |
| A-207 |
UP NEXT
St. Thomas (5-9) advances to face top-seeded and eighth ranked Trinity University in the semifinals. That match is currently scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Cree Family Tennis Center on the campus of Schreiner.