TULSA, Okla. — UAB eliminated UTSA from the Conference USA Tournament with a 4-2 first-round victory on Thursday at the Case Tennis Center.
The No. 7 seed Blazers, who improved to 13-8 on the season and will play second-seeded Tulane in the quarterfinal round on Friday, grabbed an early 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches.
At the top spot, Chris Helliar and Mitchell Martell teamed up for an 8-1 win against the Roadrunners' 79th-ranked tandem of Joel Rubio and Tomas Stillman. Yannick Junger and Boburjon Kamiljanov held off Lucas Dirube and Donovan McSeveney at No. 2 with an 8-6 decision, but UAB's Luiz Felipe Pinto and Rafael Rondino pulled out an 8-6 victory against Fabian Brand and Diogo Casa on the third court in the decisive contest.
The Blazers then took a 2-0 lead after Helliar beat Junger in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1 singles.
However, the 10th-seeded Roadrunners (9-17) evened the score with a pair of singles victories.
Casa posted a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win against McSeveney at No. 4 and Rubio downed Stepan Vancurik, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, at the third spot to make it 2-2.
However, UAB answered when Martell beat Kolby Kilgo, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 5 and it then clinched the match with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory by Pinto against Harley Pearson at the sixth position, ending UTSA's season.
2014 Conference USA Tournament
#7 UAB 4, #10 UTSA 2
Doubles
1. Helliar/Martell (UAB) def. #79 Rubio/Stillman (UTSA) 8-1
2. Junger/Kamiljanov (UTSA) def. Dirube/McSeveney (UAB) 8-6
3. Pinto/Rondino (UAB) def. Brand/Casa (UTSA) 8-6
Singles
1. Chris Helliar (UAB) def. Yannick Junger (UTSA) 6-2, 6-3
2. Rafael Rondino (UAB) vs. Tomas Stillman (UTSA) 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), unfinished
3. Joel Rubio (UTSA) def. Stepan Vancurik (UAB) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
4. Diogo Casa (UTSA) def. Donovan McSeveney (UAB) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
5. Mitchell Martell (UAB) def. Kolby Kilgo (UTSA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Luiz Felipe Pinto (UAB) def. Harley Pearson (UTSA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,3,5,6)