TULSA, Oklahoma – The No. 71-ranked University of Denver men's tennis team (17-5, 5-0 Summit) advanced to the Summit League men's final after winning a 4-1 dual against Illinois State at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday.
 
No. 1-seeded Denver eased through doubles before outbattling No. 4-seeded ISU to book a spot in the championship match. Denver has now advanced to the Summit League final in seven consecutive seasons in which the tournament has been held and is looking for its third consecutive title.
 
Doubles:
Two 6-0 wins in doubles gave Denver the early 1-0 lead overall. The first result came from the No. 2 court featuring senior Ryoma Mishiro and sophomore Samuel Rovai, who posted a bagel set for the second time in dual match play and the first since Denver's second dual of the season on January 25.
 
Clinching the point with their own 6-0 win was the No. 3 team of senior Raffaello Papajcik and freshman Aaron Beduhn. It marked their best result while playing together as a doubles pairing, though Beduhn had accomplished such a score during the fall season with graduate student Connor Robb-Wilcox. Friday's score was the first of Papajcik's career in doubles.
 
Robb-Wilcox and sophomore Theo Coats had gone down a break for a 1-4 deficit on the top court, though the match was abandoned after Denver had clinched the point.
 
Singles:
Papajcik put Denver ahead 2-0 overall with only three total games lost, winning his ninth consecutive singles match and eighth in a row from the No. 1 singles slot. He began by winning the first eight games of the match, leading 6-0 2-0 before ISU's Tomas Valencia got on the board for the first time. Valencia took a break off Papajcik before the Denver senior responded with four games won in the final five to seal it, 6-3.
 
Within minutes of each other, the Nos. 3 and 4 courts wrapped up, seeing Coats win first from the No. 3 spot in two sets, putting Denver within a point of the dual. He led 4-2 in the first set before ISU's Adrian Dibildox won three games in a row, sitting a point away from the set before the DU sophomore got back level at 5-5 with the first of three consecutive games won on his way to a 7-5 win. The second set proved competitive as well with Coats taking a 4-2 lead again before Dibildox rallied for 4-4. Coats responded with his own back-to-back games won, though, finishing it off with a 6-4 result.
 
Illinois State stayed alive after winning the No. 4 singles match, getting to 3-1 on the overall scoreboard. Both the Nos. 2 and 6 matches came within moment of finishing up as well, each with the opportunity to send Denver to the championship match.
 
It was ultimately Beduhn at No. 6 singles that clinched the dual for DU at 4-1, marking the freshman's second time doing so this season. He eased through the first set, winning all but the third game to take it, 6-1, before Illinois State's Caden Scarlett fought back to force a third set with a win in a second-set tiebreak. Beduhn and Scarlett each traded two-game win streaks to begin the final frame before Beduhn rattled off four games in a row to seal it at 6-2 and advancing the Pioneers into the final.
 
At No. 2 singles, Rovai was battling through a second-set tiebreak, which was left unfinished after Beduhn won the clinching point. In that No. 2 match, Rovai had already won one tiebreak, doing so after twice holding a break advantage in the first set until ISU's Christian Capacci fought back both times to force the breaker in the first place.
 
The day's only other unfinished match was also deep into a second set, this time with DU's Robb-Wilcox leading after also claiming a first-set tiebreak. After falling behind twice in the second set, Robb-Wilcox had battled back for 5-5. Illinois State's Jett Leong won the 11^th game to lead 6-5, which was where the match was abandoned.
 
Up Next:
The No. 71-ranked and top-seeded University of Denver men's tennis team will play No. 2 seed North Dakota in the Summit League championship match on Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. CT/12 p.m. MT.