GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Fifth-seeded University of St. Thomas pulled off the first seed upset of the 2023 Southern College Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championship with a 5-4 quarterfinal victory over fourth-seeded Schreiner University Friday morning at the East View High School courts in Georgetown, Texas. Official Website l Postmatch Interview | Photo Album
St. Thomas, now winners of three straight, upped its record to 5-7 and will face the winner of top-seeded Southwestern University and eighth-seeded University of Dallas at Noon tomorrow in the day's second semifinal - a match that will be played at Southwestern. Schreiner finishes the 2023 campaign with a 12-11 record.
The Celts jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles as the top two lines of Rodrigo Yoshikata and Jace Ware and Tyler Head and Race Haas posted 8-2 and 8-3 victories, respectively, over their Mountaineer opponents after Schreiner had picked up an early point with a win at the No. 3 line.
Schreiner's Jonathan Barragan evened the match at 2 all after his 6-1, 6-0 win over UST's Hunter Kemball Cook at the No. 5 line, but Ware gave the advantage right back to the Celts with is 6-0, 6-2 victory at the No. 4 line.
Back-to-back wins, however, by Schriener's Mario Gallinar (6-2, 6-2) and Austin Cervantes (6-1, 6-4) at No. 6 and No. 3, respectively, tipped the margin to 4-3 in favor of the Mountaineers with two matches remaining on the court.
After UST's Tyler Head's 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles evened the match at 4-4, all eyes shifted to the top line battle between the Celts' Rodrigo Yoshikata and the Mountaineers' Carson Kirk. After having earned a hard-fought 7-6 opening set win, St. Thomas' Yoshikata closed out the match with a 6-1 second set win - propelling the Celts to the semfinal round on Saturday.
Schreiner had defeated St. Thomas, 5-4, on March 25 during a regular season conference match at Schreiner.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS 5, SCHREINER UNIVERSITY 4
April 28, 2023 at Georgetown, Texas (East View High School Tennis Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Rodrigo Yoshikata (UST) def. Carson Kirk (SCH) 7-6, 6-1 |
| 2. Tyler Head (UST) def. Dennis Miller (SCH) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 3. Austin Cervantes (SCH) def. Race Haas (UST) 6-1, 6-4 |
| 4. Jace Ware (UST) def. Max Schechter (SCH) 6-0, 6-2 |
| 5. Jonathan Barragan (SCH) def. Hunter Kemball Cook (UST) 6-1, 6-0 |
| 6. Mario Gallinar (SCH) def. Carson Steele (UST) 6-2, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Rodrigo Yoshikata/Jace Ware (UST) def. Carson Kirk/Austin Cervantes (SCH) 8-2 |
| 2. Tyler Head/Race Haas (UST) def. Dennis Miller/Cole Reed (SCH) 8-3 |
| 3. Max Schechter/Jonathan Barragan (SCH) def. Carson Steele/Hunter Kemball Cook (UST) 8-1 |
| Match Notes |
| St. Thomas (Tex.) 5-7 |
| Schreiner 12-11 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,6,3,2,1) |
UP NEXT
St. Thomas will face the winner of top-seeded Southwestern University and eighth-seeded University of Dallas at Noon tomorrow in the day's second semifinal - a match that will be played at Southwestern. This year's quartefinal match was a repeat from last year when St. Thomas, then the No. 4 seed, defeated fifth-seeded Schreiner, 5-4 - also in the quarterfinal round.
