TYLER, Texas – After falling behind early, the No. 23 Ouachita men's tennis team rallied for a 4-3 neutral-site victory over St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon in Tyler.

The Rattlers (1-2) started with a 1-0 lead in the match with wins in first and second positions doubles. Elias Lagger and Aaron Osmond collected a 7-5 win in third position to keep the Tigers from being swept in doubles.

The Tigers (4-2) turned up the intensity in singles with wins in first position from Alex Blanchar, second position from Phil Exner, third position from Fernando Docters, and sixth position from Elias Lagger.

Exner and Lagger won their respective matchups in straight sets, while Blanchar and Docters needed a third set tiebreaker to determine the point in each of those positions. Blanchar dropped his first set to 48th-ranked Alvaro Soler 6-1, but then rallied for force a tiebreaker and extra points in that tiebreaker to earn the point. Docters also dropped his first set 6-1 before rallying back to win in a tiebreaker.

Ouachita heads back on the road next weekend for a rematch with No. 24 Mississippi College on Friday, March 1 in Clinton. The Choctaws beat the Tigers 4-3 on February 18 in Arkadelphia.

NO. 23 OUACHITA 4, ST. MARY'S 3
 
DOUBLES

1. Nicolas Llosa/Alvaro Soler (STMU) def. No. 4 Exner/Blanchar (OUA) 6-2
2. Oskar Idroja/Jake Faryniarz (STMU) def. No. 3 Docters/Ramon Strassmann (OUA) 6-3
3. Lagger/Osmond (OUA) def. Louie Hein/Ryan Koth (STMU) 7-5

 
SINGLES

1. Blanchar (OUA) def. No. 48 Soler (STMU) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
2. No. 13 Exner (OUA) def. Llosa (STMU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Docters (OUA) def. Irdoja (STMU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Faryniarz (STMU) def. Strassmann (OUA) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4)
5. Daniel Matheu Baldor (STMU) def. Osmond (OUA) 6-4, 6-2
6. Lagger (OUA) def. Leonardo Fabbri (STMU) 6-3, 6-2