MIDLAND, Texas (April 25, 2026) – Playing on its home courts at the Bush Tennis Center for just the second time this season, The University of Texas Permian Basin men's tennis team fell 6-1 against No. 10-ranked Lubbock Christian University in the final match of the season on Saturday.
In addition to ranking in the top-10 in NCAA Division II as a team, LCU finished the regular season with four nationally-ranked singles players and two ranked doubles duos.
Lucas Nakasato and
Kabir Chothani were defeated 6-2 by No. 25-ranked Pablo Segura and Andres De Los Rios at No. 2 doubles and
Joao D'Amorim and
Nehal Naidoo were defeated 6-3 by No. 8-ranked Mattia Ghedin and Kelly Giese in the top spot. Despite the loss, D'Amorim and Naidoo finished the season with an above .500 record (4-3) at No. 1 singles.
In the final doubles match, UTPB battled to a tiebreak at No. 3 doubles, but
Philipp Gaurieder and
Andrew Hunsley came up just short, 7-6 (7-4), against Andrea Rossi Principe and Marco Seccia.
Singles play started off with a 6-0, 6-1 loss by
Enrique Silveira vs. Seccia at No. 5 singles.
D'Amorim fell 6-2, 6-1 vs. No. 4-ranked Giese at No. 1 singles. Last Fall, Giese became the first Chaparral in program history to reach the national semifinals at the prestigious ITA Cup. Then in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason poll, Giese earned LCU's highest national placement with a No. 4 ITA singles ranking and opened the Spring season as the No. 1 singles player in the South Central Region. Giese has now won 19 consecutive matches, improving to 32-5 overall and 21-1 in dual play at the top flight.
Nakasato fell 6-1, 6-1 vs. No. 65-ranked Ghedin at No. 3 singles and Gaurieder forced a first-set tiebreaker before struggling in the second set in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 defeat vs. Rossi Principe at No. 6 singles. The final loss was a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Chothani vs. No. 26-ranked De Los Rios at No. 4 singles.
UTPB earned the win in its final match of the season, a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) upset win by Naidoo over No. 18-ranked Segura at No. 2 singles. In addition to Giese, Segura and De Los Rios were the other two Chaps to earn an at-large bid to the ITA Cup last Fall. The trio represented three of the eight national at-large selections in the 16-player Division II singles field, a rare feat achieved by only a handful of programs across the country. Then in the ITA preseason rankings, De Los Rios (No. 17) and Segura (No. 18) both joined Giese inside the top-20 nationally.
Naidoo led UTPB with 10 singles wins on the year (10-7) and was the lone Falcon with a winning record in singles. He was followed by Nakasato with six wins (6-9) while D'Amorim (5-10) and Silveira (5-7) both had five wins and Chothani (4-13) had four.
Coach's Quote:
- Words from Coach Chris Tolson: "I am proud of the way our guys competed today. Especially proud of Nehal and the way he has grown on the court this year. He has finished out this season on a five-match winning streak, including beating a nationally-ranked player today. We have a lot to look forward to next year as our team has improved a ton from day one. All season we have started five freshmen, so I knew there would be a big learning curve. But I am very proud of the fight this team had. With all the lessons learned this year, I am extremely excited for the future of the program."
Results:
Doubles
Singles
- #1 – No. 4 Kelly Giese (LCU) def. Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-2, 6-1
- #2 – Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) def. No. 18 Pablo Segura (LCU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
- #3 – No. 65 Mattia Ghedin (LCU) def. Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 6-1, 6-1
- #4 – No. 26 Andres De Los Rios (LCU) def. Kabir Chothani (UTPB) 6-3, 6-4
- #5 – Marco Seccia (LCU) def. Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 6-0, 6-1
- #6 – Andrea Rossi Principe (LCU) def. Philipp Gaurieder (UTPB) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
- Order of Finish: 5, 1, 3, 6, 4, 2
Team Records:
- UTPB finishes the season 6-13 overall and 3-5 in the Lone Star Conference.
- LCU, now its just its fourth season as an NCAA program, finishes the regular season 19-5 overall and 8-0 in the LSC, and clinches the LSC regular-season title outright with the win over the Falcons.
- 2024-25 was an historic season for LCU, which captured the program's first LSC Tournament Title, punched its ticket to a third straight NCAA Division II South Central Regional berth, and ultimately finished as national semifinalists for the first time in school history.
- LCU debuted at No. 5 in the national preseason rankings this season, marking the first preseason national ranking for the program after closing the 2025 season ranked No. 6 in the final ITA poll.
