Vaqueros finish WSC North Conference in 3rd place

Two of the three doubles pro sets were closely contested. Vaqueros #2 team Connor Schloemer and Dominic Arnell started off quite solid and were on serve through mid pro set, and then Ventura picked up their game and pulled away 8-4. In the #3 position, Vaqueros Daniel Truong and Ada Guler were battling well against Ploquin and Tellez. At 6-6 in the pro set Guler locked in and returned phenomenally well which set up Truong at the net where he knifed two high backhand volleys. The Vaqueros broke Tellez at 6-6 and Truong served brilliantly mixing up locations and speed as the Vaqs closed out the pro set for the first team point of the match 8-6.

 

In the singles, the Vaqueros fared much better than the first round of conference play when the Pirates blanked the Vaqueros. Today, the Vaqueros were much more dialed in on the singles side with Vaqueros #5 and #6 (Guler and Schloemer) stretching their matches late into the 3rd sets. Schloemer found his rhythm off the ground and played freely, earning two match points at 5-4 in the 3rd set.

 

At the #1 spot, Mauritz Seitz started off very hot, going up early in the first set and then the wheels came off. Seitz lost the first set and was upset with himself for squandering the early lead. But patience and great mental control set in for the Vaqs #1 player as Seitz completely changed his mental game and came up with point after point in many grueling rallies. Seitz was able to minimize unforced errors and showed creativity on a few big points from mid-court. Seitz broke Matias' serve at 5-6 to stay in the match and then played a long, grinding tiebreaker which Seitz was able to extend the match 8-6. Then in the 3rd set super breaker, the players were trading off points by moving each other around with strong forcing shots off the ground. Seitz was up 7-4 and 8-5 and then Matias rolled back and was serving for the match at 9-8 when Seitz rebounded and closed out the match with more physicality as he was willing to throw everything he had at his opponent to 11-9.

 

Vaqueros' Robert Friedrich Klee summed up the match, "three out of the six singles went to third sets, which is a great indicator of how high the level was, especially in comparison to the last match against the strongest team in the conference. Thanks to an outstanding physical and mental effort and great team energy, our number 1 player Mauritz was able to save a match point and fight for the second team point of the day. Despite the 2-7 overall score, our team is proud of the progress made over the past few months. And the journey doesn't stop here--we are ready to come back even stronger next week with two away matches! Let's go Vaqs!"

 

The Vaqueros clinched a playoff berth with the 3rd place conference finish.