RICHARDSON, TX (05.03.18) - The UT Dallas men's tennis is moving on to the semifinals of the 2018 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament after a 5-1 win over LeTourneau in Thursday's opening round.

The Comets (10-1) took a 2-1 lead on LETU in doubles play and then added three quick singles win to dispatch the YellowJackets at the UTD Tennis Courts. UTD will square off with East Texas Baptist Friday at 2 p.m., weather permitting, in the round of four. ETBU advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 5-3 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The ASC West Division champion Comets opened the match with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles by Alberto Hernandez and Ryan Morton over LETU's Nash West/Dale Wallace. UTD's Mario Jelev and Giovanni Zamboni then handled YellowJackets Zach Crowlye-Kurth/Robby Bundy, 8-1, at No. 2 doubles to give the Comets a 2-0 advantage.

LETU's Jimmie Henson/Christian Farris then upended the Comets' top doubles tandem of Eric Chen and Ashwin Vaithianathan, 8-5, to avoid the sweep.

In singles action, Zamboni quickly ousted Bundy, 6-0, 6-3, at No.3 to lift the Comets to a 3-1 advantage. Hernandez added his straight-set win, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 2 over Henson before Jelev ended the match with a 6-4, 6-3, win ove Farris at No. 1.

When the match concluded, Vaithianathan (No. 4), Chen (No. 5) and Morton (No. 6) were all leading their opponents in their first sets.

In other first-round action, ASC East champ Texas-Tyler handled Concordia Texas, 5-0, and Hardin-Simmons downed Ozarks, 5-0. Those two winners will open Friday with a 10:30 a.m. semifinal, weather permitting.