LONGVIEW, TX (04.26.19) - The UT Dallas men's tennis team will be playing in the title match of the American Southwest Conference Championship for the fourth straight season after earning a 5-1 win over tournament host LeTourneau in the semifinals Friday afternoon at the Davis Tennis Courts.

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The Comets (15-1) will now square off with Concordia Texas (14-2) in Saturday's ASC championship match, looking to avenge the squad's only regular-season this spring. The battle between the top two teams from the ASC's West Division is slated for 11 a.m.

UTD quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Haydn Steffes and Ashwin Vaithianathan cruised to an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles over LETU's Zac Crowley-Kurth/James Estrada. Two complete the doubles sweep, both remaining squads had to battle to 9-7 decisions. Top-flighted Mario Jelev and Giovanni Zamboni best the Jackets' top squad of Jimmie Henson/Christian Farris, while Eric Chen and Brandon Giordanelli held off LETU's Bobby Clark/Nathan Schmidt.

Leading 3-0 heading to singles action, Steffes quickly dispatched LETU's Schmidt, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 4 singles to draw the Comets within one victory of a fourth straight title match appearance. Yellow Jacket Bobby Clark responded with a 6-0, 6-0, win at No. 6 singles over UTD's Jed De Luna. The semifinal contest would come to a close soon after, however, with a 6-2, 6-0, win by Vaithianathan over Crowley-Kurth at No. 3 singles.

At the match's conclusion, Jelev (No. 1), Zamboni (No. 2) and Chen (No. 5) were all a set up.

The Comets and Concordia Texas opened ASC West play on March 29 when the visiting Tornados edged UTD, 5-4. The Comets have now bounced back with eight straight victories.

UTD will be playing for its second-ever ASC championship on Saturday. The Comets claimed the program's only title in 2013. Saturday's winner will serve as the ASC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis National Championship.