Men’s Tennis: CajunsSecond At HEB Tournament Of Champions
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The No. 73 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s tennis team picked up a pair of wins on Friday to advance to the finals of the HEB Tournament of Champions before falling in the finals on Saturday to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Louisiana (8-8) rolled into the finals on the strength of consecutive wins over New Mexico State and Southern Miss on Friday, knocking off the Aggies 4-2 before shutting out the Golden Eagles by a 4-0 score.
But the Islanders (7-3) clinched the match with four points in singles play to win the tournament for the second consecutive season. Jarred Wynan was the lone Cajun to scratch the scoring column with a win against TAMUCC, defeating Arthur Bedel (7-5, 6-2) in No. 6 singles play.
The Cajuns had to rally from a 1-0 deficit in its opening-round match against New Mexico State, taking four singles matches from the Aggies to move into the tournament semifinals. Jarred Wynan and Will Huyton earned a (6-2) win over Christofer Goncalves and Thomas Douglas at No. 3 doubles, but the Aggies, who fell to 2-6 on the season with the loss, picked up wins on the top two doubles courts to go up 1-0 early on.
But things changed quickly once singles play began, starting at the top when Farinola rebounded from dropping the first set to Strahinia Trecakov to convincingly take the next two sets, and the match (2-6, 6-1, 6-1). Jake Wynan added another point with a (6-1, 6-0) victory over Paul Denele at No. 2 singles, and Edgar Lopez swept by Goncalves (6-1, 7-6) on the No. 3 court. The Cajuns got their fourth, and clinching point, from Huyton at No. 5 singles with a (4-6, 6-0, 6-0) win over Charles Baron.
Louisiana then moved on to the semifinals later on Friday afternoon to take on Southern Miss, who had knocked off Lamar in the opening round. The Cajuns made sure the match never made it to doubles play, clinching the match with straight set wins at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 singles for a 4-0 win.
Farinola continued to roll, claiming a win in his fifth straight decision, and third straight in the top spot in the lineup by getting by Tarun Surat (6-4, 6-2). Jake Wynan then cruised by Wen-Po Tseng (6-2, 6-3) at No. 2 singles before Lopez disposed of Chao-Yu Huang (6-2, 7-6) at No. 3 singles. Jarred Wynan moved into the No. 5 singles spot and closed out the match with a (7-6, 6-2) win over Daniel Merker.
The Cajuns will now return home to Cajun Courts on March 11 for a 3:00 p.m. meeting with Bryant before going on the road to Fort Worth, Texas and Lubbock, Texas for matches against TCU and Texas Tech on March 20 and 22.
#GeauxCajuns
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#73 Louisiana 4, New Mexico State 2
Singles competition
1. Farinola, Damian (UL) def. Strahinja Trecakov (NMSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
2. Wynan, Jake (UL) def. Paul Denele (NMSU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Lopez, Edgar (UL) def. Christopher G. (NMSU) 6-1, 7-6
4. Liam Goldberg (NMSU) def. Kramarov, Vlad (UL) 6-3, 6-4
5. Huyton, Will (UL) def. Charles Baron (NMSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-0
6. Wynan, Jarred (UL) vs. Germain Degardin (NMSU) 4-6, 6-4, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Strahinja Trecakov/Paul Denele (NMSU) def. Farinola, Damian/Lopez, Edgar (UL) 6-4
2. Germain Degardin/Charles Baron (NMSU) def. Wynan, Jake/Wahlberg, Coleman (UL) 6-3
3. Wynan, Jarred/Huyton, Will (UL) def. Christopher G./Thomas Douglas (NMSU) 6-2
Match Notes:
New Mexico State 2-6
Louisiana 7-7; National ranking #73
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#73 Louisiana 4, Southern Miss 0
Singles competition
1. Farinola, Damian (UL) def. Tarun Surat (USM) 6-4, 6-2
2. Wynan, Jake (UL) def. Wen-Po Tseng (USM) 6-2, 6-3
3. Lopez, Edgar (UL) def. Chao-Yu Huang (USM) 6-2, 7-6
4. Huyton, Will (UL) vs. Alex Doleac (USM) 4-6, 6-2, unfinished
5. Wynan, Jarred (UL) def. Daniel Merker (USM) 7-6, 6-2
6. Stavropoulos, Dimitr (UL) vs. Rakshit Rishi (USM) 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Wen-Po Tseng/Chao-Yu Huang (USM) vs. Lopez, Edgar/Farinola, Damian (UL) no result
2. Alex Doleac/Brad Marriott (USM) vs. Huyton, Will/Wynan, Jake (UL) no result
3. Daniel Merker/Mikhail Esipov (USM) vs. Wahlberg, Coleman/Wynan, Jarred (UL) no result
Match Notes:
Southern Miss 8-4
Louisiana 8-7; National ranking #73
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Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 4, #73 Louisiana 1
Singles competition
1. Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Farinola, Damian (UL) 6-0, 6-2
2. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) vs. Wynan, Jake (UL) 2-6, 6-4, 2-4, unfinished
3. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Huyton, Will (UL) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
4. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) def. Lopez, Edgar (UL) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Kramarov, Vlad (UL) 6-3, 6-4
6. Wynan, Jarred (UL) def. Arthur Bedel (AMCC) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Farinola, Damian/Lopez, Edgar (UL) vs. Peter Nagy/Arthur Bedel (AMCC) no result
2. Wynan, Jarred/Wahlberg, Coleman (UL) vs. Kevin Bettendroffer/Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) no result
3. Wynan, Jake/Huyton, Will (UL) vs. Paul Cook/Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) no result
Match Notes:
Louisiana 8-8; National ranking #73
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 7-3
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (1,6,5,4,3)
