The Wichita State men’s tennis regular season ended at home on Saturday, celebrating senior day for Matheus Pereira. WSU played Southern Illinois, and each player fought to end Pereira’s season in memorable fashion.

The Shockers took the match 6-1, but the score doesn’t nearly reflect how close the match truly was.

Pereira and doubles partner Tin Ostojic were up 4-1 before they stalled and let the Salukis back in the match. SIU won six of the next nine games to tie the match at seven games apiece. 

Ostojic refused to disappoint his senior teammate and came through in the next two games to seal the doubles point for WSU. With the win, the duo became the Missouri Valley Conference doubles regular season champions.

“It’s been an honor to play with a guy like [Pereira],” said Ostojic, “I’ve learned a lot from him, and it’s going to be hard next year. It’s hard to replace a guy like Matheus.”

Pereira played his singles match fast and powerful, winning 6-2, 6-1. The only Shocker teammate who could keep up with Pereira’s pace was Erick Reyes, who won his match 10 minutes later by the same score.

“He’s been a coach’s dream for four years,” coach Brad Louderback said of Pereira. “I don’t have to coach him on the court because he knows more than me and I can’t help him with tutoring because he’s smarter than me.”

The team rallied around Pereira to send him off with the win he deserves. WSU was up 3-1 when they seemed to stall once again. With the sideline coaching from his captain, Nicol turned it on in the second set and won his match 6-4, 6-2 to seal match victory for WSU.

 “It’s a dream that is finally ending,” Pereira said. “It’s bittersweet. I’m moving on to another chapter of my life. The time I spent here as a Shocker was amazing, and I’m very proud to be a Shocker.”

Women’s tennis wins another MVC title— 

The Wichita State women’s tennis team defeated Southern Illinois 7-0 on the road over the weekend to secure its fourth straight Missouri Valley Conference championship. 

The Shockers fought hard early on, barely winning the doubles point. All three positions found hard fought victories, winning 9-7, 8-7, 8-6. The Shockers won all of their singles matches handedly.

Freshman Julia Schiller completed her season undefeated in conference play and Montse Blasco Fernandez improved her impressive singles record to 21-9.

The Shockers will be in the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament this coming weekend at the MVC Tournament, hosted by Wichita State from April 26-28.