Mayfield Village, Ohio
- The fifth-seeded Trinity Tigers
opened the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III National
Men's Team Indoor Championship Friday with a 7-2 victory over
the No. 4 California Lutheran University Kingsmen.
Trinity (7-2), which won its fourth straight
match, takes on top-seed Washington University-St. Louis at 2:00
p.m. ET Saturday in the semifinals at Case Western Reserve
University. The finals and third-place matches are slated for
Sunday.
Tiger junior Jordan Mayer clinched the deciding
dual-match point for the fourth time this season. Mayer, undefeated
at 7-0, won No. 5 singles by a 6-1, 6-0 score.
The match began with Trinity taking a 2-1 lead
after doubles. Paxton Deuel and Nico Moreno were edged 9-8 in the
No. 1 match. But Greg Haugen and Mayer took the No. 2 slot 8-4,
while Chas Mayer and Clayton Niess won the No. 3 line
8-5.
Deuel was a 6-1, 6-3 winner at No. 1 singles, and Haugen
captured the No. 3 match 6-0, 6-4. Moreno won a 7-6, 7-6 tiebreaker
battle at No. 4 singles, and Connor Dunn prevailed 7-6, 6-3 at No.
6. Aaron Skinner lost 2-6, 6-4, 10-3 (tiebreaker) at No. 2
singles.
