[Men's Tennis] PURPLE REIGN! Men's Tennis beats Bethany 5-2 to advance to KCAC Semifinals

The magnitude of Kansas Wesleyan's historic tennis victory over Bethany wasn't lost on senior Michael Moody (SR/Midwest City, Okla.).

 

Wesleyan's 5-2 conquest in a quarterfinal match of the Kansas Conference tournament Monday at Salina Central High School was the Coyotes' first-ever over the Swedes in men's competition.

 

"Any time we can beat our rival it's extra special," Moody said. "And obviously, being the first one, it's something that no else can say they've done. It's really amazing."

 

The victory sends third-seeded KWU into the semifinals and a match against second seeded and No. 25-ranked McPherson at 2 p.m. Friday at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka. The Bulldogs defeated the Coyotes 8-1 in their regular-season match April 14 in McPherson.

 

Monday's victory avenged a 6-3 loss to the Swedes earlier this season at Central High.

 

Moody, a native of Midwest City, Okla., and a four-year player at KWU, was able to view the other singles matches after defeating Edward Sengai 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the No. 2 match. Moody rallied from a 4-1 deficit in winning the first set.

 

"It's one of the first times I was actually done in straight sets and one of the first people off (the court)," he said. "It doesn't usually happen, but it was cool to get on, get off, take care of business and support my teammates."

 

What Moody saw was tense and tight competition on every court. After winning two of the three doubles matches, four of the remaining five singles matches went to three sets.

 

Moody's victory gave a Wesleyan a 3-1 lead, but Bethany got within 3-2 on Andrew Ricaurte's 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 No. 3 win over Felix Diaz (JR/La Guaira, Venezuela).

 

Shingi Chingaya (SO/Wylie, Texas) gave Wesleyan a 4-2 lead with a 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2) victory over Andrew Witter at No. 6, and the Coyotes clinched it when Luis Soto (JR/Santo Domingo, Dominican Repub) defeated Manuel Lopez-Videla 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 4. Soto was mobbed by his teammates and fans after match point.

 

Moody and Rincon defeated Rivera and Sengai 9-7 in No. 1 doubles, and Soto and Diaz downed Sopina and Lopez-Vidalia 8-4 at No. 2. Ricaurte and Witter defeated KWU's Kyle Rice (SO/Topeka, Kan.) and Rodrigo Vera (SO/Lima, Peru) 8-4 in the No. 3 match.

 

"It's kind of a surreal feeling," Wesleyan first-year coach Josh Molino said. "We've worked really hard all year long to get to this moment in time. We had so many guys who stepped up huge today for us.

 

"Credit to Bethany. They were down (some personnel), but those guys left it all out there and they played really well up and down the lineup. They were tough and no free points. It was a 5-2 score, but it was a lot closer than that."

 

The No. 1 match between KWU's Mario Rincon (SR/Bogota, Colombia) and Raul Rivera, and the No. 5 duel between Luckian Campos (SR/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Brandon Sopina were stopped after the team outcome was determined. Rincon and Rivera were tied 4-4 in the third and Campos was down 4-3 in the third when the matches were halted.

 

Wesleyan came painfully close to defeating the Swedes in the 2017 tournament. The Coyotes won all three doubles matches, but the Swedes rallied for a 5-3 victory by winning the first five singles matches – Moody falling in three sets at No. 3.

 

"I was the deciding match and lost in that semifinal," he said. "It hurt, but it feels good to come back and get this one."

 

Molino was pleased with his team's grit.

 

"One doubles was a big point for us, that could have gone either way," he said. "We played well in doubles and then maybe started slow in singles. We had some guys get down and there were a lot of momentum swings.

 

"Rincon did a great job of extending the match in the third (set) and Shingi going up 3-0 then down 4-3 to win in a tiebreaker in the third was huge. I'm just really proud of everybody today."

 

Molino also credited KWU assistant coach Logan Palenske, who was the Swedes' head coach last season.

"He's an assistant coach, but he's more than that," Molino said. "He's been a huge part of our season. This one was for him and the guys really rallied around him."

 

McPherson presents a stiff challenge, Molino said.

 

"Those guys are tough, they beat us up pretty good (April 14)," he said. "We're looking forward to it. We've exceeded expectations and this was a huge win for our senior class. We're just really happy we could get it done.

 

"Hopefully this will give us momentum going into Friday."