Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Sunday, April 21
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
11 AM
Middle Tennessee
4
vs
3
Florida Atlantic
Men's Tennis Wins First C-USA Title
4/21/2019 4:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis, BRAA
MT comes from behind to clinch a berth into the NCAA tournament
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - For the first time in Middle Tennessee tennis history, the Blue Raiders take home the Conference USA title in a come-from-behind dramatic win over FAU on Easter Sunday.
The Blue Raiders clinch a NCAA berth for the first time since winning the Sun belt conference title in 2012, where they competed in Oxford, MS regional hosted by Ole Miss.
Doubles were strong for the Blue Raiders as Middle Tennessee took the first point of the match with wins on courts two and three. Gonzalo Morell and Pavel Motl jumped out to a 4-0 lead and finished it out for the first doubles win, 6-2. The fiery No. 2 duo of Max Rauch and Francisco Rocha used the rowdy crowd to stick a 6-3 clinching win for the early Blue Raider lead.
On court one, the No. 86-ranked crew of Chris Edge and Tom Moonen fell behind 4-1 to No. 76-ranked FAU duo, but the Raiders earned a couple of breaks to make it cut the FAU lead to one, 6-5 but were left unfinished.
The Owls rebounded from dropping the first point of the match by claiming quick wins on courts 1, 2 and 5, taking a 3-1 lead in the match. With pressure mounting, the Raiders earned on all three remaining courts.
Max Rauch willed his way to a 7-5 first set win, but the Owls answered with a 6-1 second set win. In the deciding set, Rauch again fed off the Blue Raider faithful, as he cruised to a 6-1 third set score to give his team hope.
Right next to Rauch, Tom Moonen emerged on the winning side of a tight straight set contest. The first set was neck and neck, as Moonen took an early 4-2 lead, but the Owls came back to force a tiebreak. After Moonen won that tiebreak by a score of 7-5, he found himself in a 5-3 hole in the second. He battled back to claim the second tiebreak by a 7-5 mark, knotting the team score at 3-3.
With the match put into the freshman Pavel Motl's hands, he stepped up to the moment. After dropping a first set tiebreak, Motl regrouped and forced a third set. Moments after Moonen tied the championship at 3-3, Motl broke his opponent's serve to take a 6-5 lead in the championship-deciding set. With the game score at 40-30 and on his second serve, Motl delivered in the clutch to send MT to the NCAA tournament.
Next Up
The Blue Raiders will know their NCAA tournament opponent, location and dates on April 29th at 6:00pm in the selection show.
Social Media
Follow the Blue Raiders at the NCAA tournament here:
Twitter: @MT_MensTennis
Facebook: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Mens Tennis
Instagram: @MT_MensTennis
The Blue Raiders clinch a NCAA berth for the first time since winning the Sun belt conference title in 2012, where they competed in Oxford, MS regional hosted by Ole Miss.
Doubles were strong for the Blue Raiders as Middle Tennessee took the first point of the match with wins on courts two and three. Gonzalo Morell and Pavel Motl jumped out to a 4-0 lead and finished it out for the first doubles win, 6-2. The fiery No. 2 duo of Max Rauch and Francisco Rocha used the rowdy crowd to stick a 6-3 clinching win for the early Blue Raider lead.
On court one, the No. 86-ranked crew of Chris Edge and Tom Moonen fell behind 4-1 to No. 76-ranked FAU duo, but the Raiders earned a couple of breaks to make it cut the FAU lead to one, 6-5 but were left unfinished.
The Owls rebounded from dropping the first point of the match by claiming quick wins on courts 1, 2 and 5, taking a 3-1 lead in the match. With pressure mounting, the Raiders earned on all three remaining courts.
Max Rauch willed his way to a 7-5 first set win, but the Owls answered with a 6-1 second set win. In the deciding set, Rauch again fed off the Blue Raider faithful, as he cruised to a 6-1 third set score to give his team hope.
Right next to Rauch, Tom Moonen emerged on the winning side of a tight straight set contest. The first set was neck and neck, as Moonen took an early 4-2 lead, but the Owls came back to force a tiebreak. After Moonen won that tiebreak by a score of 7-5, he found himself in a 5-3 hole in the second. He battled back to claim the second tiebreak by a 7-5 mark, knotting the team score at 3-3.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! Tom wins on tiebreaker and forces a winner-take-all FOR PAVEL 7-6, 7-6 🤯 pic.twitter.com/IbC1dfA6sg
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) April 21, 2019
With the match put into the freshman Pavel Motl's hands, he stepped up to the moment. After dropping a first set tiebreak, Motl regrouped and forced a third set. Moments after Moonen tied the championship at 3-3, Motl broke his opponent's serve to take a 6-5 lead in the championship-deciding set. With the game score at 40-30 and on his second serve, Motl delivered in the clutch to send MT to the NCAA tournament.
YES, HE DID IT! THE FRESHMAN! WE ARE THE CHAMPS. Just watch 👀 pic.twitter.com/nPRkvMfug8
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) April 21, 2019
Next Up
The Blue Raiders will know their NCAA tournament opponent, location and dates on April 29th at 6:00pm in the selection show.
Social Media
Follow the Blue Raiders at the NCAA tournament here:
Twitter: @MT_MensTennis
Facebook: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Mens Tennis
Instagram: @MT_MensTennis
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
12
20
Jason Legall / 0 [FAU]
66
#2 Singles Match
12
44
Kirac Bekisoglu / 0 [FAU]
66
#3 Singles Match
12
77
Mehdi Laalej / 0 [FAU]
66
#4 Singles Match
123
716
Gabriel Sidney / 0 [FAU]
561
#5 Singles Match
12
42
Ignacio Garcia / 0 [FAU]
66
#6 Singles Match
123
667
A. Fernandez Horta / 0 [FAU]
735
Order of Finish:
1,5,2,4,3,6
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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