April 30, 2025-The #49 Emporia State men fell 4-2 to #36 Ouachita Baptist in the first round of the MIAA/GAC Tournament on Wednesday in Springfield, Mo.
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The Tigers duo of Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann, who are ranked #10 in the nation, opened play with a 6-3 win over the Hornets 40
th ranked duo of
Gwendal Mazuay and
Alexis Mattenberger. Emporia State's
Hachem Fahem and
Roko Kacer evened the doubles with a 6-3 win over Yarin Aebi and Aaron Osmond.Â
Anton Sarunic and
Luke West then gave the Hornets the doubles point with a 7-6 (7-5) win over Moritz Buss and Elias Lager at #2 doubles.
Mattenberger put Emporia State up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win at #3 singles over Lager. Ouachita Baptist would win the next four singles matches to clinch the win and advance to the next round.Â
Mostafa Elbasnaly fell 6-4, 6-1 to #45 Strassmann at #2 before Aebi defeated Kacer 6-4, 6-3 to even the dual at 2-2. In a top 25 singles battle Exner, the nation's top ranked player, defeated #23 Sarunic 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) to put the Tigers up 3-2. Buss clinched the match for Ouachita Baptist with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 win over
Diego Calvo at #4 singles. With the dual clinched
Duvan Santiago Torres match with Osmond at #6 singles was abandoned in the third set.
With the loss Emporia State's season is likely over as they entered the tournament ranked fifth in the Central Region and only four teams advance to the NCAA Tournament.
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