The South Dakota State men's tennis team scored its first Summit League win this season, topping Western Illinois 5-2...
The win keeps the Jackrabbit hopes alive for a posteason berth in the four-team league tournament.
SDSU got out of the gate fast, earning the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Parker Lawley and James Thorp won at the top 8-5, while Dominic Rossetto and Morgan Salo teamed up for a slightly more convincing win at the bottom, 8-4.
At the top of the singles lineup, Justin Pyle and Rossetto each lost in full third sets, but the Jacks ran the remainder of the matches.
Lawley, Thorp and Alejandro Marin won at No. 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Each match completed in straight sets, with no SDSU player surrendering more than three total games.
Christian Maki closed out the day with a third-set super tiebreaker win, as well.
"Overall, it was a great team match," head coach Michael Engdahl said. "Everyone fought hard and contributed to the win. We played some great tennis over the past four days and it feels good that our goal to make the Summit League Championships is still in sight."
The Jacks improve to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in league play.
The SDSU men return to action on Wednesday, April 4, at Truman State. Meet time is set for 1 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.
Complete results from today's meet are listed below.
South Dakota State 5 - Western Illinois 2
Doubles
No. 1 - Parker Lawley/James Thorp def. Patrick Hammers/Ben Yue (WIU), 8-5
No. 2 - Jim Capalbo/Andrew Yopp (WIU) def. Justin Pyle/Alejandro Marin, 8-4
No. 3 - Dominic Rossetto/Morgan Salo def. Jesus Roman/Daniel Sweeney (WIU), 8-4
Singles
No. 1 - Patrick Hammers (WIU) def. Justin Pyle, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 - Ben Yue (WIU) def. Dominic Rossetto, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
No. 3 - Parker Lawley def. Jim Capalbo (WIU), 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 - James Thorp def. Andrew Yopp (WIU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 - Alejandro Marin def. Jesus Roman (WIU), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Christian Maki def. Daniel Sweeney (WIU), 2-6, 6-2, 10-6
