In their final game of the regular season, the men’s tennis team beat Grand Canyon University 5-2 on Sunday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners (11-10) concluded their winning season with a triumph over the Antelopes (12-5). Following a dominant doubles victory, the seniors paused play to celebrate their many accomplishments over four years at UTSA, then returned to the courts and showed exactly how they earned them, each going on to win their singles match.
“The three words I would use to describe this team are: grit, perseverance and passion. These three guys really represent that,” coach Sasha Gozun said.
“We all came here today into the facility with the right mentality — to compete for each other,” senior Miguel Alonso said. “This all started in doubles. We had great energy.”
During doubles, freshmen Oskar Grzegorzewski and Ben Chetewy Ungar led the charge against the Antelopes when they switched from underhand returns to aggressive overheads, leading to their 6-1 win. This tactic translated from court one to court three as Alonso and senior Danijal Muminovic began to mimic Grzegorzewski and Chetewy Ungar’s efforts. The two held the Antelopes scoreless for the duration of two game points and the seniors brought home their third win as a pair this season.
“Danny and I understand each other on the court so we play really good with each other,” Alonso said. “I am happy to share the court with him.”
“When it comes to doubles, it’s always good to play with Miguel. I enjoy it, we have really good chemistry on the court” Muminovic said.
Bookends to his senior year, the first and last home matches shared a striking resemblance for Muminovic, who earned the first singles point for the ‘Runners in both games. The Bosnian won in two sets with a final score of 7-5, 6-3.
“It’s always good to win. To be honest, the only goal I had for today was just to play well, and I played better than I wanted,” Muminovic enthusiastically said.
No. 108 senior Tiago Torres was the second senior to close out his match, winning 6-4, 6-3. Torres will be leaving UTSA as the winningest senior out of the trio, claiming a total of 62 singles and 45 doubles victories.
“It feels great to finish with those two guys,” Torres said of Alonso and Muminovic. “Danny is a special guy, he’s so kind. He’s a calm guy and you need those guys on the team, you can’t just have crazies like me, but he works so hard. Miguel has been my roommate for four years. I love him, he is my best friend.”
With one additional win thanks to an additional game that the Roadrunners played this year, they can now claim a winning season with the 11th win that the Antelopes gave them.
Alonso was the last senior to close out his singles, but with a 6-2, 7-6 win no less and Grzegorzewski was the only freshman to leave the courts with both a doubles and singles win.
The men’s tennis team will travel to Memphis, alongside the women’s team, to compete in the American Athletic Championships Thursday at Leftwich Tennis Center.
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