SAN ANTONIO — Takeru Watanabe won his third straight singles match, but Marquette handed the UTSA men's tennis team a 4-1 loss on Saturday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
Watanabe registered his third sweep of the week with a 6-1, 6-4 decision against Nick Dykema at No. 4 for the freshman from Japan's team-leading seventh win of the dual-match season.
However, The Golden Eagles (10-4) snapped a two-match winning streak for the Roadrunners (5-13) with a narrow win in doubles and three victories in singles.
Marquette's top doubles tandem of Kristiyan Trukov and Alvaro Verdu teamed up for a 6-1 triumph over Fabian Brand and Igor Cantanhede.
Christian Carrillo and Watanabe were in a 6-6 deadlock with Greg Anderson and Brett Meyers at No. 3, but Dykema and Luke Smrek outlasted Patrick Poestinger and Juri Reckow, 7-5, at No. 2 to secure the first point of the day.
Meyers gave the visitors a 2-0 advantage when he beat Gabriel Borunda, 6-2, 6-1, at the bottom of the lineup.
Watanabe's straight-set decision put UTSA on the board, but Verdu edged Kai Breitbach, 6-4, 7-6 (5) at No. 1 to pull the Golden Eagles to within one of clinching.
Poestinger got out to an early lead in his No. 3 matchup against Anderson. However, Anderson rallied for a pair of 6-3 decisions to give Marquette the win and end the match.
The Roadrunners will return to action next Saturday, March 25, when they travel to Beaumont to face Lamar at 10 a.m.
Marquette 4, UTSA 1
Doubles
1. Trukov/Verdu (MU) def. Brand/Cantanhede (UTSA) 6-1
2. Dykema/Smrek (MU) def. Poestinger/Reckow (UTSA) 7-5
3. Carrillo/Watanabe (UTSA) vs. Anderson/Meyers (MU) 6-6, unfinished
Singles
1. Alvaro Verdu (MU) def. Kai Breitbach (UTSA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Juri Reckow (UTSA) vs. Luke Smrek (MU) 5-7, 6-2, 3-4, unfinished
3. Greg Anderson (MU) def. Patrick Poestinger (UTSA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Takeru Watanabe (UTSA) def. Nick Dykema (MU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Igor Cantanhede (UTSA) vs. Kristiyan Trukov (MU) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 2-0, unfinished
6. Brett Meyers (MU) def. Gabriel Borunda (UTSA) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,4,1,3)
