Men's Tennis | April 25, 2019

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The La Salle University men's tennis team secured the biggest upset in Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship history on Thursday afternoon, as the 11th-seeded Explorers defeated sixth-seeded George Mason, 4-2, at the United States Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

La Salle, who avenged a 4-3 loss to the Patriots earlier this month, is the lowest seed to ever win an opening-round match since the tournament began its current format in 1992. With the win, the Explorers will make the program's first-ever quarterfinal round appearance against No. 3 Davidson on Friday, April 26, beginning at 12:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The match began with all three doubles matches being contested, and George Mason took a quick 1-0 lead with a 6-2 win at No. 3.
• La Salle answered back as senior Francesco Mowrey and freshman Nassim Fenjiro took a 6-4 victory at the top spot.
• In the third and decisive doubles match, sophomores Rogelio Gonzalez and Connor Merrill were pitted against GMU's Erick Rivas and Jakob Nielsen.
• The match advanced to a tiebreak, where Gonzalez and Merrill took an early 5-1 lead.
• The Patriots fought back to even at 5-5, before an ace by Merrill and a Gonzalez winner gave the Explorers the 7-5 tiebreaker win and a 1-0 advantage in the team competition.
• George Mason earned the first two wins in singles action, taking straight-set triumphs at No. 4 and No. 5.
• Fenjiro returned the favor by winning his match, 6-3, 7-6, at No. 3 to knot the team score at 2-2.
• At No. 2 singles, Gonzalez suffered a 6-3 loss in the opening set of his match against Pally Ray, who transferred from Louisville and was a second-team all-conference pick as a sophomore.
• The Plano, Texas product fought through adversity and rebounded for wins in the second (6-2) and third (6-1) sets to put La Salle on the brink of victory.
• As Mowrey battled Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honoree Eddy Ayers on Court #1, sophomore Colin Lucius was fighting back from an early deficit at No. 6.
• Lucius dropped the opening set against Rivas in decisive fashion, 6-0, but showed poise in a difficult situation.
• Following a 6-3 win in the second, Lucius battled through a number of contentious points and secured the 7-5 victory in the third set with a break of serve.
• A double fault on match point sent Lucius and the rest of his teammates into celebration mode, as the group picked up a historic win.

NOTES

• La Salle's earlier season match against George Mason also came down to the final match, with Lucius holding two match points in his match before falling to the same opponent in three sets.
• The Explorers entered Thursday's match with an 0-23 record in opening-round matches at the Atlantic 10 Championship and 6-38 overall. All six wins came in drawback rounds that were contested prior to 2012.
• La Salle and Davidson faced one another earlier this season, with the Wildcats earning a 4-0 win in Philadelphia. Davidson enters Friday's match with a 12-8 overall record and advanced to the semifinals at last year's A-10 Championship.