The Bulldogs opened play at the 2023 BIG EAST Men's Tennis Championship in convincing fashion, taking a 4-1 win over DePaul Friday afternoon.
 
The BIG EAST quarterfinal matched the fourth-seeded Bulldogs with the No. 5 seed DePaul in Cayce, S.C.
 
Butler captured the doubles point with wins on the first and third courts to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
 
Freshman Nicolas Arts made quick work of DePaul's Sven Moser on the sixth court, posting a 6-1, 6-3 win that gave the Bulldogs their second team point.
 
Alvaro Huete Vadillo produced another straight-set win for the Bulldogs with a 7-5, 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot. His win put Butler a single point away from the team win.
 
The remaining four matches all featured split sets as the tension began to build. DePaul's Pablo Torres Almeida got the Blue Demons on the board with a win at No. 4 singles.
 
The clinching point came from the first court as senior Thomas Brennan rebounded after losing the first set to take a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Aleksa Krivokapic.
 
Brennan's win sent the Bulldogs into Saturday's semifinals where top-seeded Creighton awaits.
 
With the result, Butler is now 14-9 on the season.
 
Saturday's semifinals are scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. Georgetown and St. John's will meet in the semifinal opposite Butler and Creighton.

Live scoring is available through the iOnCourt app with a link available at ButlerSports.com.

Doubles

1. Brennan/Huete (Butler) def. Huck/Almeida (DePaul), 6-4
2. Miralles/Arts (Butler) and Verma/Moser (DePaul) were tied, 6-6 (unfinished)
3. Konakanchi/Joss (Butler) def. Jona Gitschel/Elias Anwar (DePaul), 6-1

Singles

1. Thomas Brennan (Butler) def. Aleksa Krivokapic (DePaul), 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
2. Alvaro Huete Vadillo (Butler) def. Leon Huck (DePaul), 7-5, 6-3
3. Borja Miralles (Butler) led Matteo Iaquinto (DePaul), 6-4, 4-6, 4-3 (unfinished)
4. Pablo Torres Almeida (DePaul) def. Rahulniket Konakanchi (Butler), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Patrick Joss (Butler) led Shourya Verma (DePaul), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 1-0 (unfinished)
6. Nicolas Arts (Butler) def. Sven Moser (DePaul), 6-1, 6-3