| Junior Rodrigo Morgado clinched Sunday's win with a thrilling, three-set win. |
SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA men’s tennis team captured their second win of the season, and first since the season opener, when it defeated St. Edward’s, 5-2, on Sunday at the UTSA Tennis Complex.
The Roadrunners (2-4) started off strong, sweeping the doubles matches and taking the point for an early 1-0 lead.
Junior Rodrigo Morgado and sophomore Daniel Moreiras finished off Nick Arnold and Justin Raiti, 8-5, at the No. 2 spot. Freshman Pedro Zanotelli paired up with senior Andre Moreira at the No. 1 position, beating Brett Powers and Mick Walter, 8-6. It took a tie-break to settle the No. 3 match. Sophomore Max Stratmann and junior Jorge Delgado were able to pick up the win over Boris Barrios and Bernie Lancaster, 8-7 (7-5).
“It was important for us to pick up that doubles point and get a little momentum early,” head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein said after the match.
In singles competition, No. 5 Moreiras knocked out Arnold, 6-2, 6-4, to give the Birds a 2-0 lead. The Hilltoppers battled back to tie the match behind strong performances from Lancaster and Walter at the Nos. 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Lancaster defeated Stratmann, 6-2, 6-1, and Walter followed with a win of his own when he outlasted Delgado for a three-set victory (6-4, 2-6, 6-3).
The momentum ended there for St. Edward’s, as UTSA won the last three contests to clinch the three-point win.
Zanotelli fought off Raiti at No. 2 singles, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, Morgado and Powers’ No. 1 clash went down to a third-set tiebreak, with Morgado coming out on top, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Freshman Shariq Khan took down Barrios, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 6 slot to finish off the victory.
“Today was a match that we really needed to win,” Trittenwein said. “I’m happy with the effort I saw out there.”
The Roadrunners will have two weeks off before they return to the court for another pair of home matchups on Feb. 13-15 against Marquette and Nebraska.