ARLINGTON, Texas (May 2, 2025) – The No. 46 nationally-ranked and third-seeded University of Texas Permian Basin men's tennis team had a 2-1 lead, but after a lengthy weather delay, could not keep it going and ultimately fell 4-2 against No. 5 nationally-ranked and second-seeded Lubbock Christian University in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals at the Arlington Tennis Center. It was the second year in a row the Falcons fell in the LSC semifinals.

UTPB lost the first two doubles matches to fall behind 1-0. Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez and Grzegorz Rudnicki played together for the second match in a row and fell 6-2 against Pablo Segura and Andres De Los Rios at No. 3 doubles. Then in a battle of nationally-ranked First-Team All-LSC duos, No. 30-ranked Jonas Krahofer and Jonathan Vega also fell 6-3 against No. 35-ranked Kelly Giese and Jordan Georgiev at No. 1 doubles.

UTPB won the first two singles matches, first with a 6-3, 6-2 win by Gonzalez Ibanez over De Los Rios, the LSC Co-Newcomer of the Year, at No. 4 singles, followed by a 6-4, 7-5 win by Rudnicki over No. 62 nationally-ranked Mattia Ghedin at No. 3 singles, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead. Rudnicki's win was his second win over the nationally-ranked Ghedin this season. Gonzalez Ibanez was able to take down De Los Rios this time after falling in a pair of tiebreak sets in their first meeting.

Three of the final four singles matches went to three sets, but a rain delay started just before noon and halted the action for eight hours. With UTPB just two points away from victory, Vega led 5-4 in the second set at No. 1 singles, Lucas Nakasato was tied 3-3 in the third set at No. 2 singles, and Krahofer was tied 3-3 in his third set at No. 5 singles at the time of the delay.

The teams resumed action under the lights, but the momentum turned back in favor of LCU as Segura, a first-team all-conference selection who is ranked No. 13 nationally in singles, earned his seventh win in a row and completed a comeback win, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, over Nakasato at No. 2 singles, tying the match at 2-2. After being tied at 5-5 in the third set, Krahofer dropped the next two games to fall 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 against Marco Seccia at No. 5 singles, giving the lead back to LCU (3-2). Both Nakasato and Krahofer forced a third set against their opponent this time around after falling in straight sets against the same opponents during the regular season.

After dropping the first set and leading 5-4 in the second set, Vega (No. 25 nationally-ranked) fell behind 6-5, battled back to tie it at 6-6, but fell 7-3 in the tiebreak. It was a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) defeat for Vega against Giese (No. 9 nationally-ranked) at No. 1 singles. Giese, the 2025 LSC Men's Tennis Player of the Year, continued his surge up the ITA national singles rankings by winning his 14th match in a row and improving to 6-2 this season against nationally-ranked opponents in singles, including two wins against Vega.

The semifinal contest between UTPB and LCU ended 12 hours after its original start time.
 
Results:
Doubles

• #1 – No. 35 Kelly Giese/Jordan Georgiev (LCU) def. No. 30 Jonas Krahofer/Jonathan Vega (UTPB) 6-3
• #2 – Lucas Nitzschke/Florian Kralik (UTPB) vs. Mattia Ghedin/Marco Seccia (LCU) 5-4, unfinished
• #3 – Pablo Segura/Andres De Los Rios (LCU) def. Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez/Grzegorz Rudnicki (UTPB) 6-2

Singles

• #1 – No. 9 Kelly Giese (LCU) def. No. 25 Jonathan Vega (UTPB) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
• #2 – No. 13 Pablo Segura (LCU) def. Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
• #3 – Grzegorz Rudnicki (UTPB) def. No. 62 Mattia Ghedin (LCU) 6-4, 7-5
• #4 – Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez (UTPB) def. Andres De Los Rios (LCU) 6-3, 6-2
• #5 – Marco Seccia (LCU) def. Jonas Krahofer (UTPB) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
• #6 – Lucas Nitzschke (UTPB) vs. Blas Ruiz Romero (LCU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-5, unfinished

Team Records:

• UTPB falls to 11-7 overall while LCU improves to 21-2 and advances to the LSC Tournament Championship.

 
Next Up: The NCAA South Central Regional Tournament will be May 9-10.