[Men's Tennis] Men's Tennis gets big 5-4 win over Ottawa

Sunday's win by the Kansas Wesleyan Men's Tennis team over the Ottawa Braves was big as the Coyotes knocked off the Braves 5-4 at the Salina Central tennis courts.

The decisive point came for the Coyotes in the No. 4 singles flight as Luis Soto (JR/Santo Domingo, Dominican Repub) rallied from a set down to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the match for the Coyotes.

Felix Diaz (JR/La Guaira, Venezuela) also picked up a big win at No. 3 singles, winning both sets in tiebreakers, 7-4 in the first and 8-6 in the second.

The wins boosted Wesleyan's record to 5-5 overall and 4-1 in the KCAC.

"I am really proud of the way that Felix and Luis fought all day long," Wesleyan head coach Josh Molino said. "They carried us today. They showed the heart and grit that you need to win big matches and conference championships."

The teams split the two contested doubles matches, and KWU picked up a default win at No. 3 doubles by Rodrigo Vera (SO/Lima, Peru) and Kyle Rice (SO/Topeka, Kan.). Ottawa won the No. 1 doubles flight as Lukas Michenka and Claudio Quinones beat Mario Rincon (SR/Bogota, Colombia) and Michael Moody (SR/Midwest City, Okla.) 8-5. KWU got a win in the No. 2 flight as Soto and Diaz won 8-4 over Luke Graham and Igoa Golubovic.

The Braves picked up wins in three of the singles flights as Quinones beat Rincon 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1; Michenka beat Moody 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 and Golubovic beat Luckian Campos (SR/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) at No. 5, 6-2, 6-2. Wesleyan got a default win at No. 6 singles by Shingi Chingaya (SO/Wylie, Texas).

A big week awaits the Coyotes. Wesleyan takes on Friends on Thursday in Wichita, then faces Tabor on Saturday in Hillsboro before a huge match next Sunday in McPherson as the Coyotes face No. 19 ranked McPherson.

"We are going to enjoy this one tonight," Molino said. "But we will get back to work next week and focus in on Friends and Tabor."