BOX SCORE
SEASON STATS
GRANT CHEN POSTGAME

(DALLAS) -  SMU men's tennis defeated Utah, 5-2, on Friday afternoon in the first match of the SMU Indoor Invite at the SMU Tennis Complex.

The Mustangs improved a 3-3 on the season with a thriller of a win to start the four-match homestand. The Mustangs set the tone by capturing an exciting doubles point against the Utes. Liam Krall and Julian Steinhausen jumped on Utah early on court one and eventually won, 6-3. Caleb Chakravarthi and Huntley Allen went back and forth on court three before pulling out the point for the Mustangs, 6-4. Tomas Vaise and Juan Jose Bianchi were locked in a 5-4 battle at the time of clinch.
 
In singles, Clarke Wilson dominated both his sets for a quick, 6-2, 6-2 victory to put the Mustangs up, 2-0.  Vaise moved the Mustangs to within one point of a victory after he took down court four, 6-2, 6-3.
 
Things began to tighten up after Krall dropped his match, 6-2, 6-2. In need of one more win, the Mustangs found themselves locked in lengthy matches.
 
Steinhausen rebounded after losing set one, 6-3, to run away with the second, 6-1. He appeared to be nearing the clinch, up 5-1 in the third before Utah roared back to tie it at 5-5. The freshman hunkered down and earned a huge break before converting his serve for the, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win.
 
Jan-Simon Vrbsky lost his first set in a tiebreaker but found himself in a third set battle after winning a grueling second. In the super tiebreaker, it was all Vrbsky, 10-2. Chakravarthi split the first two sets on the top line but would drop the third, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to complete the final score of 5-2, SMU.

The win gave SMU its first victory over a PAC-12 school since a 4-0 win over Washington in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

SMU completes play at the Indoor Invite on Saturday with a noon match against Wichita State.