NAIA Second Round
Score: No. 3 Keiser 4, No. 13 San Diego Christian 2
Records: Keiser (18-4), San Diego Christian (18-8)
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Venue: Mobile Tennis Center



No. 3 Keiser men's tennis bested a tough Hawks team from San Diego Christian on Wednesday morning at the Mobile Tennis Center, 4-2.

• Luke Simkiss and Soufiane El Mesbahi put Keiser in front early, winning 6-3 over Julius Kaufmann and Angel Herreros on court three.
• No. 8 Chris Papa and Nick Nienhaus fought off three match points in a comeback win on court one over Yassir Kilani and Bart Nouws, 7-6(4).
• The Hawks clinched the doubles point as Geronimo Barrios and Charly Zick fell to Luis Hochenauer and Robin Van den Hoek, 7-6(5).

• No. 5 Simkiss had a statement win on court one, defeating No. 1 Chris Papa, 6-2, 6-0.
• No. 25 El Mesbahi was next off the courts with a 6-0, 6-1 win on court six.
• The Hawks leveled the match on court two as No. 15 Nienhaus defeated No. 11 Barrios, 6-2, 6-2.
• No. 21 Kilani would put Keiser back in front with a 6-3, 6-4 on the court four.
• Down 2-4 in the third set, No. 18 Fred Oervad won the next four games to clinch the match for the Seahawks.

"Happy to move on today," said Head Coach, Daniel Finn, "Honestly, we had a poor start in doubles and we allowed San Diego Christian to get their teeth into the match. That said, I'm not taking any credit away from them. They're a very good and gritty team that has one of the highest power six Universal Tennis Rankings in the tournament and had a lot to play for with their program getting wrongfully cut so we knew going in that they would be dangerous. On top of that, yesterday they had a match, so they came into this one playing with some rhythm as we came out flat, which really dug us in a little bit of a hole early. But after that, I do wanna give our guys a lot of credit for doing as they've done so many times this year on different occasions, just digging in and finding ways to win the important points and win the match. I believe that early in the tournament, it doesn't matter how you get the win, as long as you're able to win and advance in the tournament. The biggest thing now will be for us to get out of the sun and take all the necessary needs to recover and get ready for another fight tomorrow."


The Seahawks will face No. 10 Union in the Quarterfinals tomorrow, May 18, in Mobile, Alabama.