No. 33 Men’s Tennis Grabs Second Seed in South Central, Will Host St. Edward’s

INDIANAPOLIS – With a sixth straight conference title under their belts, the No. 33 Western New Mexico University men’s tennis team parlayed this year’s success into hosting a South Central Regional match as the two seed against third seed and No. 34 St. Edward’s. The winner of the match will advance to the NCAA Championships.

WNMU last hosted in 2011-12 sweeping past St. Cloud State, 5-0. The Mustangs came close the last two years in regional play falling just short against Midwestern State and then Cameron last year. The Mustangs, ranked 33rd in the nation by ITA, are 13-9 overall and went a perfect 7-0 in RMAC regular season and tournament action.

WNMU and St. Edward’s faced each other on Mar. 8 in Midland, Texas with the Mustangs coming away with a 5-4 victory. The Hilltoppers are 10-8 overall and recently won the Heartland Conference title. Patrick Clynes leads the team in singles wins with 13, while Maximo Agoglia has added 10. Agoglia/Clynes lead the team in doubles wins collecting eight.

Freshman Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan) leads the team in singles wins tallying 13. Senior Alvaro Nunez (Madrid, Spain) has 12, while sophomore Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes), redshirt freshman Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes) and freshman Pablo Santibanez (Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico/CETYS Universidad) have added nine wins apiece. Pageault/Santibanez, along with Nunez/senior Juan Pablo Fuentes (Guadalajara, Mexico) have gone 8-0 in doubles play each.

WNMU and St. Edward’s will play in Silver City sometime between Saturday May 2 and Tuesday May 5. Once a date and time have been set, they will be posted on wnmumustangs.com.