LUBBOCK, Texas (May 9, 2025) – The No. 46 nationally-ranked and fourth-seeded University of Texas Permian Basin men's tennis team brought the energy from the start and won the doubles point, but then ran out of gas in singles action en route to a 4-1 defeat at No. 5 nationally-ranked and top-seeded Lubbock Christian University in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Men's Tennis Championship at the Penny Gullo Tennis Center. The loss brings an end to the Falcons' 2024-25 season.

It was a hot start for the Falcons as UTPB led 3-0 at No. 3 doubles and 2-1 at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez and Lucas Nitzschke put the pressure on the Chaparrals with a dominating 6-1 win over Pablo Segura and Andres De Los Rios at No. 3 doubles.

Despite UTPB losing at No. 2 doubles, the match at No. 1 doubles saw Jonas Krahofer and Jonathan Vega (No. 30 nationally-ranked) maintain a 4-3 advantage over Kelly Giese and Jordan Georgiev (No. 35 nationally-ranked), and then with Vega delivering some clutch serves, the top UTPB duo closed out the 6-4 victory to give the Falcons the doubles point. It was the first win for Krahofer and Vega over Giese and Georgiev in three tries this season.

After losing at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles in its previous two meetings this season against LCU, UTPB broke through this time around in the doubles matches.

It was a rough start, however, in singles for the Falcons, who dropped the first set in all six matches. The energy flip between the teams was palpable.

After defeating Mattia Ghedin (No. 62 nationally-ranked) twice this season, Grzegorz Rudnicki could not pull it off for a third time as instead he fell 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.

That tied the match at 1-1, and then Lucas Nakasato fell 6-3, 6-0 against Segura (No. 13 nationally-ranked) at No. 2 singles to give a Chaps the 2-1 advantage. The win improved Segura to 29-5 overall and 21-2 in duals, including a 14-1 mark at the No. 2 position.

After forcing three sets at No. 6 singles in each of their first two meeting this season, Nitzschke fell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, this time against Blas Ruiz Romero, pulling the Chaps to within one match from the win.

UTPB tried to rally and forced a third set at both No. 5 and No. 4 singles, including a gutsy 7-5 win in the second set by Gonzalez Ibanez over De Los Rios at No. 4 singles, to extend the match.

At No. 1 singles, Vega (No. 25 nationally-ranked) trailed 5-2, but then down 5-3, killed three match-points against Giese (No. 9 nationally-ranked), the 2025 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, to keep the action going.

Krahofer battled to a 5-5 tie against Marco Seccia in his third set at No. 5 singles and Gonzalez Ibanez took a 2-1 lead in his third set at No. 4 singles, but back at No. 1 singles, Vega succumbed to Giese by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to bring an end to the Falcons' season. Giese moved to 23-8 overall with the win and improved to 7-3 against nationally-ranked foes.

With their big win at No. 1 doubles, Krahofer and Vega finished the season 13-3 overall and 12-3 at No. 1 doubles. In addition, Gonzalez Ibanez and Nitzschke improved to 11-3 together and 10-3 at No. 3 doubles while Florian Kralik and Rudnicki finished 8-5 overall and were 7-4 at No. 2 doubles. In singles, Vega finished 12-6 (all at No. 1 singles), Krahofer finished 12-5, Gonzalez Ibanez finished 12-4, Rudnicki finished 9-7, Nitzschke was 10-6, and Nakasato wrapped up at 5-8 (all at No. 2 singles).
 
Results:
Doubles

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

Singles

• #1 – No. 9 Kelly Giese (LCU) def. No. 25 Jonathan Vega (UTPB) 6-4, 6-4
• #2 – No. 13 Pablo Segura (LCU) def. Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 6-3, 6-0
• #3 – No. 62 Mattia Ghedin (LCU) def. Grzegorz Rudnicki (UTPB) 6-3, 6-1
• #4 – Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez Ibanez (UTPB) vs. Andres De Los Rios (LCU) 4-6, 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
• #5 – Jonas Krahofer (UTPB) vs. Marco Seccia (LCU) 2-6, 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
• #6 – Blas Ruiz Romero (LCU) def. Lucas Nitzschke (UTPB) 6-3, 6-1

Coach's Quote:

• "I am extremely proud of the way our team competed today and throughout the season," said UTPB's Head Tennis Coach Chris Tolson. "I feel blessed to have taken this ride with this team. All of these guys have such a bright future in life, and I can't wait to see all they accomplish. It's been a great year and I am looking forward to building on what this program has been able to accomplish over the last two seasons."

 
Team Records:

• UTPB ends its 2024-25 season with a final record of 11-8, but advanced to both the Lone Star Conference Semifinals and the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
• LCU improves to a very impressive 23-2 overall and advances to the NCAA Championship final site at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.