Owensboro, Ky. — The No. 48 ranked University of Findlay men's tennis team saw its conference postseason run come to a close on Friday April 24, falling 4-2 to No. 42 Northwood University in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship Semifinals at Centre Court.
Despite the tournament exit, the regionally eighth-ranked Oilers remain a strong contender and are potentially still alive for an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Division II Regional Tournament.
Findlay opened the match with a surge of momentum, battling hard to capture the opening doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead over the Timberwolves. Northwood struck first in doubles action, as AJ Duggan and Sergio Lopez Guillen took the No. 2 flight over Soh Kuyama and Matthis Veniard, 6-1. The Oilers quickly responded at the top flight, where Clement Andrieu and Grant Hawkins secured a 6-3 victory over Marc Ferrando Farras and Juan Perez Garcia. The point came down to the No. 3 flight, where Aleksander Ivancevic and Nicolo Lippolis delivered a clutch 6-4 win against Finn Buschmaas and Andrey Pikulin to put Findlay on the board first.
Moving into singles play, Northwood's surged as they claimed four of the five completed matches.
The Timberwolves quickly tied the match at 1-1 after Marc Ferrando Farras defeated Runa Kagoshima 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, and then took a 2-1 lead following Juan Perez Garcia's 6-0, 6-3 win over Aleksander Ivancevic at the No. 5 spot.
Soh Kuyama answered the call for Findlay at No. 2 singles, securing a straight-sets 6-4, 6-2 victory against Andrey Pikulin to tie the overall dual at 2-2 and keep the Oilers' hopes alive.
However, Northwood reclaimed the lead when AJ Duggan topped Matthis Veniard 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 4 flight. The match was officially clinched at the top singles flight, where Sergio Lopez Guillen managed to hold off Clement Andrieu 6-4, 6-1, securing the fourth and final point for the Timberwolves.
At the time the match was halted, Findlay's Nicolo Lippolis was locked in a tight battle at No. 6 singles, leading the first set 6-3 but trailing the second set 4-5 against Finn Buschmaas.
The Oilers will now await the NCAA selection show to see if their regular-season resume is enough to secure a spot in the Midwest Regional.
