NORFOLK, Va. — Tomas Stillman pulled out a three-set victory at the top singles spot to help UTSA edge Southern Miss, 4-3, in Friday's quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Tournament, which is being played at Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 15-8 overall — their most victories since recording 16 in 2005 — and advanced to Saturday's semifinal round against tournament host and No. 58 Old Dominion (16-2), a 4-0 winner against UAB, at 11 a.m. (CT).
UTSA captured the doubles point and took a 3-1 lead in singles competition, but the No. 3 seed had to hold on for their first-ever C-USA postseason victory after the Golden Eagles (15-9) knotted the score at three with wins on the second and fourth courts.
The decisive point came down to the No. 1 singles contest between UTSA's 82nd-ranked Stillman and Southern Miss' Tarun Sarut.
Stillman took the first set by a 6-3 count, but Surat countered with a 7-6 (7-4) decision in the second frame. With all eyes on the first court, Stillman posted a 6-3 win in the third to clinch the match and improve his dual match record to 18-3 with his fifth straight triumph.
Earlier in the match, Stillman and Tito Moreiras, the ITA's No. 67th-ranked doubles duo posted an 8-3 victory against Wen-Po Tseng and Chao-Yu Huang at No. 1 doubles to get things going for UTSA and run their record to 7-1 on the year.
Diogo Casa and Yannick Junger then held off Surat and Daniel Merker at No. 2 with an 8-6 decision to secure the 1-0 lead for the Roadrunners.
Joao Riquelme swept Alex Doleac, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5 singles to push UTSA's advantage to 2-0.
Huang beat Moreiras, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3 to make it 2-1, but Casa posted a 6-3, 7-5 win against Mikhail Esipov at the bottom of the lineup to give the Roadrunners a 3-1 lead before the Golden Eagles' rally.
Old Dominion defeated UTSA, 5-2, on Jan. 23 in San Antonio and the Monarchs lead the all-time series, 3-0.
UTSA 4, Southern Miss 3
Doubles
1. #67 Moreiras/Stillman (UTSA) def. Huang/Tseng (USM) 8-3
2. Casa/Junger (UTSA) def. Merker/Surat (USM) 8-6
3. Rother/Rubio (UTSA) vs. Doleac/Marriott (USM) 6-6, unfinished
Singles
1. #82 Tomas Stillman (UTSA) def. Tarun Surat (USM) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3
2. Wen-Po Tseng (USM) def. Yannick Junger (UTSA) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
3. Chao-Yu Huang (USM) def. Tito Moreiras (UTSA) 6-3, 6-0
4. Brad Marriott (USM) def. Joel Rubio (UTSA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-6)
5. Joao Riquelme (UTSA) def. Alex Doleac (USM) 6-2, 6-3
6. Diogo Casa (UTSA) def. Mikhail Esipov (USM) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,3,6,2,4,1)