CORPUS CHRISTI — Diogo Casa and Joel Rubio paired up for a 6-3 victory to clinch the doubles point and a 4-3 victory for UTSA against Lamar on Saturday in the fifth place match of the H-E-B Tournament of Champions at Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
With the match tied at three after singles play, the Roadrunners (7-5) were triumphant at the first two doubles contests that finished in posting their second victory against the Cardinals (6-6) in the last two weeks.
Tito Moreiras and Jake Rother dispatched Trey Crysel and and Steven McMullan at No. 3 with a 6-1 decision. Casa and Rubio then secured UTSA’s fifth win in its last six outings with a 6-3 victory against Jeandre Hoogenboezem and Mikko Rajamaki on the second court.
The two former Southland Conference rivals were equal after the first two singles matches to conclude. Hoogenboezem defeated Rubio, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4, while Moreiras countered with a 6-3, 6-3 sweep of his own against Benny Schweizer at No. 3.
The Roadrunners inched out to a 3-1 lead after Joao Riquelme closed out Juuso Laitinen, 7-5, 6-4, at the fifth spot and Tomas Stillman — the No. 77-ranked singles player — ran his record to 10-2 with his eighth straight win in a 7-5, 6-4 decision against Nikita Lis at No. 1.
Lamar forced doubles to be contested with three-set victories by McMullan against Rother at No. 6 (6-3, 0-6, 6-3) and Michael Feucht against Yannick Junger at No. 2 (6-4, 3-6, 6-3).
The Roadrunners will return home to host Liberty (5-4) at 2 p.m. next Thursday, March 12.
UTSA 4, Lamar 3
Doubles
1. #37 Feucht/Lis (LU) vs. Junger/Stillman (UTSA) 5-2, unfinished
2. Casa/Rubio (UTSA) def. Hoogenboezem/Rajamaki (LU) 6-3
3. Moreiras/Rother (UTSA) def. Crysel/McMullan (LU) 6-1
Singles
1. #77 Tomas Stillman (UTSA) def. Nikita Lis (LU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Michael Feucht (LU) def. Yannick Junger (UTSA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Tito Moreiras (UTSA) def. Benny Schweizer (LU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jeandr Hoogenboezem (LU) def. Joel Rubio (UTSA) 6-3, 6-3
5. Joao Riquelme (UTSA) def. Juuso Laitinen (LU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Steven McMullan (LU) def. Jake Rother (UTSA) 6-3, 0-6, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,3,5,1,6,2)