The No. 4 Omaha Men's Tennis team pushed No. 1 Denver to its limit in Friday's Semifinals round of the Summit League Championship, tying everything up at 3-3 before dropping the final singles match of the day in three sets as the Pioneers bested the Mavericks 4-3.

"Really proud of our guys," remarked Head Coach Matthew Barlow. "We gave it all we had and just fell a bit short"

Initially falling into an 0-2 hole following a pair of doubles losses, the Mavericks fought their way back to eventually tie the match at 3-3 thanks to singles wins from Ryoma Mishiro, Quintan Van Wijk, and Ethan Gaubert. All three won in straight sets, with Van Wijk scoring the first win of the day for Omaha thanks to a comeback victory in the second set to take the match 6-3, 6-4. As for Gaubert, he rode a couple of late surges to break a 3-3 tie in both sets and win 6-4,6-4, while Mishiro completely overwhelmed his opponent in set two, taking a 4-0 lead en route to 6-3, 6-3 victory.

In the deciding match, Hugo Piles Ballester recovered from a 6-0 defeat and managed to tie things up with a 7-6 (7-5) win and force a third set. Unfortunately, he could not bounce back from an early 2-0 deficit and was downed 6-2 in the final set.

Omaha's season officially comes to an end with the team posting the best regular season record in program history (13-10) and playing its closest match ever with Denver, tallying three wins against the Pioneers for the first time ever.

"This has been a great season and a for sure step in the right direction," added Barlow. "Really thankful for our seniors Davis Lawley, Hugo Piles, and Alvaro Quintana for all they have given this program. We are truly thankful for them. Good things to come in Omaha." 

Denver 4, Omaha 3

Singles competition
1. Daniel Sancho Arbizu (DEN) def. Mikhail Korkunov (OMAHA) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 
2. Nicolas Cuesta (DEN) def. Davis Lawley (OMAHA) 6-2, 6-1 
3. Ryoma Mishiro (OMAHA) def. Conner Olsen (DEN) 6-3, 6-3
4. Peter Sallay (DEN) def. Hugo Piles Ballester 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
5. Quintan Van Wijk (OMAHA) def. Charlie Miller (DEN) 6-3, 6-4
6. Ethan Gaubert (OMAHA) def. Anish Sriniketh (DEN) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Peter Sallay/Anish Sriniketh (DEN) def. Davis Lawley/Quintan Van Wijk (OMAHA) 6-4
2. Ryoma Mishiro/Mikhail Korkunov (OMAHA) def. Daniel Sancho Arbizu/Raffaello Papajcik (DEN) 6-6 (5-1) unfinished
3. Nicolas Cuest/Connor Olsen (DEN) def. Hugo Piles Ballester/Alvaro Quintana (OMAHA) 7-6 (7-5)