A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar to Meet in Fourth Straight Final
Southland Conference
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BEAUMONT, Texas - No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 2 Lamar will meet in the Southland Conference Championship for the fourth straight year after winning today's semifinal matches at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas.
Both teams claimed a share of the Southland regular season championship along with Abilene Christian, who is ineligible for postseason play as the Wildcats finish their transition to Division I. The Islanders earned the tournament's top-seed through the three-way tie. Sunday's championship is slated for 11 a.m.
No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 4 Nicholls
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi advanced to its fifth-straight Southland Men's Tennis Conference Championship with a 4-0 victory over Nicholls.
The Islanders began the match winning the doubles point, taking the No. 2 and No. 3 flight. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Mitchell Cook and Maximilian Ilic breezed past Nicholls' Leo Santos and Cornelius Schamm 6-0 in the No. 3 slot to set up Paul Cook and Cagatay Soke to secure the doubles point for the Islanders with a 6-3 win.
The 2017 tri-champion squad used three straight-set matches to claim its spot in Saturday's championship. Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas routed the Colonels' 6-1, 6-0 to put Texas A&M-Corpus Christi up 2-0. Gonzalo Achondo followed suit with a 6-1, 6-3 flight, and William Mottet ended the match in the No. 3 slot, capturing the win 6-3, 6-2. All three were 2017 All-Conference First Team singles selections.
No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 3 New Orleans
Lamar seeks consecutive Southland tournament championships after defeating New Orleans 5-0 on Sunday.
It took all three doubles matches for Lamar to head into the singles matches with the advantage. After splitting the No. 1 and No. 3 flights, Michael Feucht and Benny Schweizer - the 2017 Southland First Team No. 2 doubles squad - earned the Cardinals the doubles win behind a 6-4 topping over the Privateers Jeffrey Hsu and Nick Kramer.
Schweizer picked up the Cardinals first singles win, coming behind in both sets. Down 3-1 in the first set, the junior from Germany won five straight games to take the set 6-3. In the second set, New Orleans' Luis Albuquerque was a game away from forcing the third set before Schweizer claimed the match with three consecutive games.
Juuso Laitinen finished next for Lamar, winning his No. 6 match 7-5, 6-3. The Cardinals' Sebastian Santibanez won a straight-set 7-6, 5-2 match in the No. 4 slot as Jeandre Hoogenboezem captured a three-set win 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 flight.
Last season, Lamar won the championship 4-1 to win its first tournament final.
Please visit
Southland.org/tennis17 for more information.