HOUSTON – UTSA men's tennis senior Patrick Poestinger (Ennsdorf, Austria) won three singles matches to highlight the Roadrunners at the 2019 Rice Invitational, hosted by the Owls in Houston on Friday-Sunday.
Poestinger went 3-0 in singles to win his bracket, including an upset win over UT Arlington's Miguel Cabrera in a match that lasted over two hours on Friday. Also, on the opening day of the event on Friday, freshman Kaito Nishihara (Austin, Texas) earned a win over Lamar Community College's Jorge Abreu, avenging a loss to Abreu earlier in the fall in Corpus Christi.
"We regrouped really well and responded with a very competitive effort in singles," UTSA assistant coach Cullen Dees said. "Chuck (Joao Alcantara) and Alan (Sanson) had chances to win their first sets, but their opponents played the big moments better. Kaito (Nishihara) and Patty (Poestinger) got W's."
Freshman Joao Alcantara earned a strong singles win on Saturday, posting an upset over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Kyohei Yamanka, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Alan Sanson pushed the UIW's Mauricio Grijalva in a tight match.
"Competitive effort was improved from the very start," Dees said. "Alan and Chuck got off to a great start then had to really fight to win their match in a tiebreak. Patty and Kaito got behind early but fought back from down 4-7, saved a few match points before taking it to a tiebreaker. It was too bad they didn't come away with the win in the end."
On Sunday, UTSA had a great start, claiming boths doubles matches, including a win from Sanson and Alcantara in a hard-fought match that forced a tiebreak win. Nishihara and Poestinger won a match against Texas Tech's Jackson Cobb and Reed Collier, 9-8 (4). Sanson fought through illness late in a battle with UIW's Mauricio Grijalva.
"It was great effort by each and every guy today," Dees said. "I told them to leave it all on the court and they sure did. They competed and showed toughness on the level that a championship team should. There's a lot of good things to take from this tournament and build on going into the spring season. These guys did great. I'm excited to see what they do and the work they put in this offseason."
Doubles
Texas A&M's Austin Abbrat/Guido Marson def. UTSA's Joao Alcantara/Alan Sanson, 8-3
Alcantara/Sanson def. UIW's Warren Fulgenzi/Marko Galic, 9-8 (7)
Alcantara/Sanson def. Texas Tech's Jackson Cobb/Reed Collier, 9-8 (4)
UT Arlington's Solano Caffarena/Angel Diaz Jalil def. UTSA's Kaito Nishihara/Patrick Poestinger, 8-4
TAMU-CC's Carlos Berna Ruiz/Kyohei Yamanaka def. UTSA's Nishihara/Poestginer, 8-5
Nishihara/Poestinger def. UT Arlington's Daichi Akiyoshi/Miguel Cabrera, 8-6
Singles
Rice's Karol Paluch def. UTSA's Alan Sanson, 7-5, 6-2
Sanson def. TAMU-CC's Ryuya Ata, 7-5, 6-0
UIW's Mauricio Grijalva def. Sanson, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Joao Alcantara def. TAMU-CC's K. Yamanka, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Alcantara lost to UT Arlington's Angel Diaz Jalil, 6-3, 6-2
Alcantara lost to Rice's Conrad Russell 7-6 (9), 6-2
Patrick Poestginer def. UT Arlington's Miguel Cabrera, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Poestginer def. Rice's Mohamed Abdel-aziz, WO
Patrick Poestinger (UTSA) def. Jackson Cobb (TTU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Kaito def. Laredo's Jorge Abreu, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
UTA's Daichi Akiyoshi def. Kaito 6-1, 6-1
Kaito def Texas Tech's Justin Bloss, 6-4, 6-3
- UTSA -
