Martin Arguello waited a year for a rematch with Green Bay’s Paul Swanson. That opportunity arrived Saturday as Arguello beat his rival 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 on Senior Day and propelled Wright State to the top of the Horizon League. “It’s pretty significant on many different layers,” said Head Coach Sean McCaffrey. “Winning at home is nice. Over the last 28 matches, we’re 26-2 at home on those courts. It showed the significance of us being able to keep that home court advantage.” With the 4-3 win, the Raiders (16-4) edged ahead of the Phoenix in the conference. Both teams had been undefeated in league play prior to the match, but WSU now holds the top spot ahead of the Horizon League tournament next week. McCaffrey characterized the victory as a team effort, but paid tribute to Arguello, whom he’s called one of the greatest players in WSU history. A senior from Brazil, Arguello (25-10) lost to Swanson twice last year. Neither match was competitive. Those memories lingered and he spent time focusing on a way to get revenge. “Martin had this date circled on his calendar for months and months and months,” McCaffrey said. “Last week, all he did was preparation and training for that style of play. It paid off. Not only did he win on Senior Day against a guy that’s really been a thorn in his side, but he clinched the final point to win it. It was fitting for that to happen.” While Arguello won the deciding match, his teammates put him in that position with an impressive comeback. “At one point, we were down 3-0 and looked like we were pretty much on death’s door step,” McCaffrey said. “Then, Jamie (Clark) won, Ricardo (Pineda) won and Lauri Makikalli, a freshman who’s helped lead this team in terms of energy and enthusiasm, he won a really good match against a guy that actually played number one for Green Bay last year. Having those three guys win really set the stage for our team. Everyone contributed.” But McCaffrey hopes the emotions of the victory subside so the Raiders can focus on the last week of the regular season. Despite their record, he believes their best play is still ahead. “We need to forget about what happened this past weekend,” McCaffrey said. “We need to work on the things that we noticed we’re a little deficient in—cleaning up some of our unforced errors and better patterns of play—different things that will help improve our games.” The Raiders play Youngstown State Saturday before closing out against Cleveland State on Sunday. Though WSU is favored in both matchups, McCaffrey pushes his team to stay focused. “We’re not looking past Saturday with Youngstown State,” McCaffrey said. “The important thing here is to appreciate that win (against GB) for what it is. I think that idea that we’re only as good as our next match is really important.”
