Trinity Men's Tennis Wins Ninth Straight Match on Saturday

San Antonio – The Trinity University Tigers men’s tennis team won its ninth match in a row with a 7-2 inter-divisional victory Saturday over the St. Mary’s University Rattlers at Delavan Tennis Stadium.

Trinity, ranked No. 16 in the NCAA Division III, improved its overall record to 13-9 following the Tigers’ final regular-season home match. The team completed its home campaign with a 5-3 record. The Rattlers, members of Division II, are ranked No. 10 in the South Central Region.

The Tigers opened the match by winning two of three doubles. Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal beat Nestor Moreno and Vitas Van Dijk 8-6 at No. 1 doubles. Max Frey and Erick DelaFuente blanked Andre Klipa and Guy Rutten 8-0 at No. 2 doubles. The No. 3 doubles match went to St. Mary’s, as Marcos Villarreal and Marcin Marczewski edged Don Murray and Ben Carroll 8-6.

St. Mary’s only other win was at No. 1 singles, as Marczewski beat Frey 6-4, 6-2.

The clincher for the Tigers came at No. 4 singles, with Kowal beating Van Dijk in a three-setter, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3.

Cocanougher won a second-set tiebreak at No. 2 singles and defeated Klipa 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). DelaFuente was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Rutten at No. 3 singles. Murray beat Moreno 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 10-3 (tiebreak instead of a third set) at No 5 singles. The last match on the court was No. 6 singles, as Andrew Hoing beat Villarreal 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 10-5 (tiebreak instead of a third set).

The Tigers take on the nearby University of the Incarnate Word, ranked 17th in Division II, at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 17, at UIW’s courts. Trinity, sporting a 9-4 record against Division III opponents, will compete in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament April 23-25 at North Little Rock, Ark. At stake will be a berth in the NCAA playoffs.