DENVER, Colo. – The Saint Leo men's tennis team kept to business as usual on Thursday afternoon despite being someplace they've never been before, as they swept No. 12 Northwest Missouri State, 5-0, in their first-ever NCAA Quarterfinals match.
It was the top of the Lions' line-up that helped set the tone for match.
The No. 1 doubles duo in the nation in Alberto Barroso-Campos and Alex Theiler topped the No. 16 pair of Sergi Fontcuberta and Fin Glowick, 8-3, in quick fashion.
The No. 3 match was won be Francisco Aparicio and Oskar Nurmio with an 8-5 score over Josef Altmann and Mauro Tete to give the Lions a 2-0 lead while No. 2 doubles continued to battle.
Saint Leo's pair of Egor Panyushkin and Jaime Bueno were finally able to break away from Aymeric Autones and Boissinot at No. 2 doubles, and claim the commanding 3-0 lead with a 9-7 set score.
Saint Leo's No.1 Barroso-Campos gave a dominating performance in singles, shutting down No. 42 Romain Boissinot, 6-1, 6-1, to give the Lions their first singles point of the day, and a 4-0 lead.
He was followed by Theiler at No. 2 singles who took down Fontcuberta, 6-4, 7-5 to clinch the match for the Lions.
Saint Leo advances to the NCAA Semifinals where they will take on No. 2 Armstrong State. ASU topped NYIT, 5-1, in the Quarterfinals. The Lions and Pirates met in the regular season, with Saint Leo taking a 7-2 win.
