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Box Score 3 TEMPE, Ariz. - The LMU men's tennis team made it to the final of the Arizona State Invitational on Sunday before falling to No. 32 Arizona State in the championship match.
The Lions defeated Utah State and Idaho on their way to the final.
VS UTAH STATE
Otico and Pantino earned a 6-4 victory before Ranaivo and Gonzalez claimed the point with a 6-4 victory of their own.
In singles play, the Lions clinched with one court going unfinished.
Emin Torlic was the only straight sets winner, winning a tiebreaker 7-6 before dominating the second set 6-1.
Pantino continued his strong play on court two with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory to put the Lions at clinching point.
Otico came through with a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 come from behind victory to move the Lions into the winners' bracket.
VS IDAHO
Against Idaho, the Lions swept the doubles point with three 7-5 victories. Torlic and
Austin Di Giulio won court one with Otico and Pantino taking court two and Ranaivo and Gonzalez taking court three.
The Lions continued their strong play in singles as well, claiming three more points quickly.
Yassine Smiej took court one in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Pantino took court two 6-2, 6-3 to continue his strong run of success.
Torlic also played well on court three, notching a point and a donut. He only dropped one set, winning 6-0, 6-1.
VS ARIZONA STATE
The Lions entered the final brimming with confidence but lost to a strong Sun Devils squad.
After dropping the doubles point, the Lions had a lot of ground to make up and unfortunately couldn't make the comeback happen.
Torlic played well on court three, winning an exciting tiebreaker in the first set before the match went unfinished in the second.
Otico similarly won a tiebreaker in the first before the match was retired.
Di Giulio came off the bench to play on court six and was in a tightly contested third set before the match was retired.
The Lions will return to Los Angeles with their heads held high as runners-up of a tough tournament that included the No. 55 ranked New Mexico Lobos and the aforementioned No. 32 Sun Devils.
The Lions host Denver on Friday, March 3 and Boise State on Sunday, March 5 before earning a well-deserved break. Both of those matchups will begin at 11:00 a.m. (PT).
