DALLAS, Texas (November 5, 2025) — Competing as the lone NCAA Division II program in a field stacked with Division I talent, the Lubbock Christian University men's tennis team delivered a strong showing at the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge, hosted by SMU at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
 
The weekend event — a unique non-bracketed format designed to provide each player three to four matches in both singles and doubles play — capped the fall portion of the Chaps' 2025–26 schedule. Despite facing exclusively Division I opponents, LCU collected multiple victories, highlighted by standout performances from Andres De Los Rios and Kelly Giese.
 
Singles Summary
Senior Andres De Los Rios (Madrid, Spain) led the Chaps with a 2–1 mark at the event, improving to 13–5 on the season, the team's best singles record. He earned straight-set wins over UTSA's Luke Cantu (6–2, 6–4) and SMU's Matthew Faraci (7–5, 7–5) before falling in a close battle against UT Rio Grande Valley's Loic Young.
 
Kelly Giese (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) continued his torrid stretch, going 3–1 in singles with wins over UTRGV's Sam Whitehead (6–1, 6–3), SMU's Krish Arora (7–6 [7–2], 6–2) and UTSA's Timeo Bretin (6–2, 6–3). Giese's lone setback came against Rice's Rafael Botran (6–4, 6–4), but his 11–4 overall record now includes a 7–3 mark over his last 10 matches.
 
Junior Pablo Segura (Playa del Carmen, Mexico) pushed several top Division I opponents to the brink, collecting a victory via retirement over SMU's Jerry Barton while taking sets from UTSA's Maximilian Ontiveros and Timeo Bretin in narrow super-tiebreak losses.
 
Senior Mattia Ghedin (Treviso, Italy) also impressed, closing with a 2–2 record in Dallas. After falling to Texas Tech's Thom Van Den Dooren (7–5, 6–4) and UTA's Finbar McGarvey (6–4, 7–5), Ghedin rebounded with straight-set wins over UTRGV's Sa Serrano Huidobro (6–3, 6–3) and Rice's Yair Sarouk (6–2, 6–1).
 
Doubles Recap
In doubles play, Giese and Segura continued to build chemistry, earning a 6–2 win over SMU's Matthew Faraci and Noah McDonald. The duo fell to UTSA (6–3) and Rice (6–0) but still improved to 5–3 on the season as a tandem.
 
Meanwhile, the new pairing of De Los Rios and Ghedin — teaming up for the first time this season — battled Texas Tech's Thom Van Den Dooren and Ludovico Vaccari in their only match of the event, falling 6–4. Due to minor injuries across the field, several planned doubles matches were unable to be completed.
 
Game Notes
» LCU was the only NCAA Division II program competing in a field comprised entirely of Division I opponents.
» The Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge was an individual-format event without brackets or flights.
» Andres De Los Rios (Sr.) went 2–1 in Dallas, improving to 13–5 overall to lead the team in singles victories.
» Kelly Giese (R-Jr.) finished 3–1 in singles and is 11–4 overall, with a 7–3 record in his last 10 matches.
» Giese/Segura improved to 5–3 in doubles after earning a 6–2 win over SMU.
» De Los Rios/Ghedin made their first doubles appearance together this season.
» The event marked the final tournament of LCU's 2025–26 fall schedule.
 
Next Up
Lubbock Christian will return to competition in early February to begin its 2026 spring dual-match season, with the full spring schedule to be announced in the coming weeks.