Leavenworth, Kan—

Men:

USM tennis keeps rolling as they secured a KCAC victory 5-2 over Friends yesterday afternoon, riding a clean sweep in doubles and four singles wins to close out the weekend. The Spires answered early pressure by dominating all three doubles flights then took control of the meet in singles play.

USM's doubles pairs kick started the afternoon in commanding fashion. At the top flight, Nils Dueppe and Koyuncu edged Gomes and Fuentes 7-5 at No. 1 doubles, adding to the Spires' cushion. The No. 2 team of Priestley and Maritz continued their strong day together, defeating Ikuno and Torres 6-2 to extend the doubles sweep in progress and further underline their impact on both sides of the lineup. The Spires completed the 3-0 doubles performance at the No. 3 position, where Argote and Grimaldi teamed up for a 6-2 victory over Lacy and Bush. The result capped a perfect showing for the Spires, who did not drop a set across the three tandem courts.

Already in front on the team scoreboard, Friends managed to grab early momentum at the top of the singles lineup, but Saint Mary's depth proved crucial. The Falcons' Cristobal Fuentes opened his day by outlasting Carlos Grimaldi at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, and Rodrigo Torres followed with a straight-sets win recorded as 7-6, 7-6 over Nudem Koyuncu at No. 3, giving Friends a brief 2-1 edge in singles. From there, the match turned as USM swept the remaining courts in the lower half of the lineup.
At No. 2 singles, Evan Maritz delivered a key response, grinding out a straight-sets victory over Gabriel Gomes, recorded as 7-6, 7-6, to pull the Spires back. Korbin Priestley followed with a composed performance at No. 4, defeating Trey Lacy 6-1, 6-3. That momentum continued at the bottom of the order, where Mateo Dargel Argote rolled past Yves Ikuno 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, and Santiago Garcia closed out singles play with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jacob Bush at No. 6. Garcia's result completed a 5-2 victory for the Spires.

Individually, several Spires turned in standout dual-match efforts. Argote and Garcia produced straight-sets wins in singles while Argote also contributed to a doubles victory. Maritz and Priestley each finished 2-0 on the day, pairing up for the No. 2 doubles win and securing pivotal singles results that helped flip the early singles deficit. Their combined success highlighted the balance and depth that carried the Spires past a Falcon lineup that found its points at the top of the singles order.

With the 5-2 decision, the USM men added their fourth straight win and remain undefeated in conference play, a solid result to their spring ledger.

Women:

The USM women also secured a 5-2 dual victory over the Falcons yesterday, powered by clutch doubles point and four singles wins. The Spires took two of three doubles flights to earn the opening point, then closed out the match with depth throughout the lower half of the singles lineup.

The Spires' doubles combinations set the tone. After Friends' top duo of Carlotta Klee and Silva Avakian claimed a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, Saint Mary answered with back-to-back victories. Rowen Weimers and Monserrat Guerrero rolled to a 6-2 win at No. 2, and the team of Courtney Standley and Arsys Rojas delivered a 6-3 result at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point and give their team a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

In singles, the Spires took control in the middle and lower flights. Guerrero battled back at No. 3 singles after dropping the first set, earning a three-set win, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, to swing early momentum back toward USM. Weimers followed with one of the most dominant performances of the day at No. 4, cruising 6-1, 6-0 to push the Spires closer to the team victory.

Rojas and Standley then closed out the match. At No. 5 singles, Rojas outlasted her opponent in another three-setter, taking a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 decision that demonstrated strong recovery after a difficult second set. Standley completed the singles sweep in the bottom half of the lineup with a straight-sets win at No. 6, edging out a tight first set and finishing 7-5, 6-4 to lock in the Spires' fourth singles point and the overall win for USM.

Friends generated its scoring at the top of the lineup behind efforts from Avakian and Diaz. Avakian controlled play at No. 1 singles, winning 6-2, 6-0, and also teamed with Klee for the 6-2 victory at No. 1 doubles. Diaz added another straight-sets decision at No. 2 singles, defeating Saint Mary's Shannon Finn 6-4, 6-3 to give Friends its second point of the day. Not enough to overcome the Spires grit.

With strong performances from Weimers, Guerrero, Rojas and Standley in both singles and doubles, the Spires yet again demonstrated a balanced roster that can produce points across multiple positions as the early Spring season continues.

Coming up, both squads will host the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles on Wednesday, March 18^th with a tentative start time of 10:00 a.m. at David Brewer Park in Leavenworth, Kansas. The OKWU men come into Wednesday's contest at 10-4 overall with a KCAC slate of 2-0, and similarly on the women's side the Eagles boast a 10-5 overall mark and 2-0 in conference action.

Your USM men currently hold a record of 6-3 overall and a clean 3-0 in KCAC play with the women's side holding a 4-3 record overall and 2-1 in conference action.