St. John’s repeated as Big East Champions with a 4-2 win over #2 Marquette. The Red Storm took the doubles point with 8-5 wins at 1 and 3 and then Lucas Hejhal extended the lead to 2-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win at #1. Marquette answered with wins from Kris Trukov and Mackenzie Stearns at 4 and 5 to tie it at 2 but St. John’s Robert Livi would put STJ back up 3-2 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win at #3. STJ’s Erick Reyes would came back from a set down to clinch at #2 singles with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Vukasin Teofanovic.
“I’m very proud of our repeast as conference champions,” said Head Coach Eric Rebhuhn.“The team played tremendously at the BIG EAST Championship, having overcome much adversity throughout the year.We look forward to playing in the NCAAs and making a long postseason run.”
“I am extremely proud of the way our guys battled all weekend long,” head coach Steve Rodecap said. “We didn’t get off to a great start in doubles, but I thought we played well in singles. Unfortunately we came up just short, but it was a great experience for our guys to see what it takes to win a championship.”
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website. St. John’s 4, Marquette 2
Apr 26, 2015 at Indianapolis, Ind. (Barbara S. Wynne Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Lucas Hejhal (SJU 13.07) def. Daniel Fernandez (MU 12.70) 7-5, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,5,4,3,2)
No. 1 St. John’s Wins Second Straight Championship Title
BIG EAST Championship Presented By New York Life
Men’s Championship
Big Sky:
Idado won its 2nd straight Big Sky Championship with a 4-2 win over #6 Northern Arizona. Northern Arizona took the doubles point and picked up a win at #6 to go ahead 2-1 but Idaho picked up wins at 2, 3, 4, and 5 with Felipe Fonseca provider the clincher at #2 with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Alexandre Locci. The Idaho recap says it was the Vandals 1st championship since 1978 though they won it last year too.
“I am very proud of how the guys played today, head coach Jeff Beaman said. “We had to change our mentality a little bit after losing out on the doubles point. We talked about competing and every player came out [in singles] and did what they needed to.
“Felipe just continued with his amazing freshman year today, Beaman added. “He was playing with everything on the line and was able to win the clincher.
“Today was a tough day,” said head coach Ki Kroll. “We came out strong playing very good doubles but in the end Idaho was the better team today.”
“I am very proud of the way we fought and competed in today’s Big Sky Championship,” said Kroll
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
Idaho 4, Northern Arizona 2
Apr 26, 2015 at Gold River, Calif. (Gold River RQ)
Singles competition
1. Jordan Gobatie (NAU 12.22) vs. Odon Barta (UI 12.47) 6-2, 6-5 unf
3. Kovacs/Sanz (UI) vs. Black/Schumann (NAU) 6-7, unf
Match Notes
Northern Arizona No. 6
Idaho No. 2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,6,3,4,2)
Big Sky Tournament Final
T-3:02
Big West:
UC Santa Barbara won its 2nd Big West Championship in the last in 3 years with a 4-3 win over the #1 seed UC Irvine. UCSB took the doubles point with wins at 1 and 2 and then jumped out to a 3-0 lead after picking up wins from Cody Rakela and Erik Johnsson at 4 and 5 but UC Irvine clawed back with wins from Sebastian Heim, Nico Mertens, and Rafael Davidian at 1, 3, and 6. With the match even at 3 it would come down a 3rd set at #2 singles and in the end UCSB’s Nathan Eshmade would pull it out winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 over Tyler Pham.
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
The Green Bay Phoenix are dancing for the 3rd time in the last 4 years after shutting out #2 Valparaiso 4-0. UWGB took the doubles point with wins at 2 and 3 then picked up 3 straight set wins from Leo Gomez Islinger, Howard Scott, and Joey Leto at 2, 3, and 6 with Islinger providing the clincher. The 3 remaining courts were each in a 3rd set so it’s a good thing for UWGB that they closed out the 3 matches when they did or it could have got a little tight.
“This was a tough match, we were fortunate to get the doubles point and I think it really energized us, said head coach Mark Thomas.
“Leo is one of the most competitive guys I know, said Thomas. “If we’re at 3-0, that’s who I want on the court.
“I actually love that situation, said Gomez Islinger. “I wasn’t tight at all, I just tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the moment and try to make the best of it.
“These guys, all year, have just battled and battled and battled, Thomas added. “That helped us today when we needed them to come up in the clutch.
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
Green Bay 4, Valpo 0
Apr. 26, 2015 at West Lafayette, Ind. (Schwartz Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Jeffrey Schorsch (VALPO 13.18) vs. Michael Tenzer (GB 13.34) 3-6, 6-3, 3-2, unf
2. Leo Gomez Islinger (GB 12.86) def. Dave Bacalla (VALPO 12.65) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Howard Scott (GB 12.50) def. Garrett Gardner (VALPO 11.78) 6-4, 6-4
4. Charlie Emhardt (VALPO 12.34) vs. Florian Kraenzler (GB 12.10) 7-6, 4-6, 0-0, unf
5. Kyle Dunn (VALPO 11.49) vs. Joshua Schramm (GB 11.72) 1-6, 6-2, 1-2, unf
6. Joey Leto (GB 12.01) def. Lucas Waak (VALPO 11.08) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Howard Scott/Joey Leto (GB) def. Bacalla/Chase Hamilton (VALPO) 7-5
3. Leo Gomez Islinger/Michael Tebon (GB) def. Waak/Gardner (VALPO) 6-2
Match Notes
Green Bay 17-7
Valpo 21-7 Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (6, 3, 2)
MAAC:
#2 Marist avenged a 4-3 regular season loss to #1 Monmouth by winning the MAAC Championship for the 3rd year in a row and 12th time overall. Marist took the pivotal doubles point with it coming down to a tiebreak at #3 and then each team would pick up 3 opening sets. Monmouth would pick up wins at 1 and 5 but Marist got the 3 points it needed at 2, 3, and 5 with Rudy Kurz clinching it 6-3 in the 3rd at #2.
“What a wonderful win for our entire team and especially our seniors, Joe and Matteo, this win personally is the most rewarding and satisfying of any of our conference championships, said head coach Tim Smith. “We went in as the underdog to the team that beat us out for the regular season championship and the hard work, grit, and determination by the team made this a special victory.”
The Red Foxes are now 15-1 in MAAC championship play since 2008, amassing seven titles in eight years along the way.
“Lots of kudos to go around, but especially kudos to our third doubles team of Rudolf Kurz and Dylan Fletcher and the singles play of Matteo, Fredrik, and Rudy, Smith added. “We beat a very good team in Monmouth and I couldn’t be any more proud of the way our players conducted themselves in the tournament. Wow what a good win.
“It’s disappointing to come so close again and lose in the finals, commented head coach Cory Hubbard. “I thought this year we were ready and playing our best tennis of the season. We lost the doubles point on a tiebreaker and that really turned out to be the difference. I am happy with the way our guys battled back and hung in there because at No. 3, 4 and 5 we went down quick, but the team kept fighting and believing which is all that I can ask for. Even though the end result was difficult, we accomplished a lot this year, earning the regular season title, so we have taken one more step to getting to where we want to be.
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
3. Rudy Kurz/Dylan Fletcher (MAR) def. Filipek/Christian Viera (MON) 8-7(2)
Match Notes:
Monmouth University 15-9
Marist College 15-7
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (1,5,3,6,2)
Southern: #1 East Tennessee State won its 9th straight conference championship with a 4-0 win over #2 Furman in a match played at Furman. ETSU took the doubles point with 8-6 wins at 1 and 3 and then the Bucs would get straight set wins at 2, 3, and 6 with Diego Nunez clinching it with a 6-4, 6-4 win at #3.
Interesting note: ETSU won the Southern Conference in 2005, then departed for the Atlantic Sun and won that league 7 of 8 years, then returned to the Southern and won it again.
“It is just that mentality of wanting to keep the tradition going,” ETSU head coach Yaser Zaatini said. “Nine is my favorite number, so to get to this point is a little bit surreal.”
“We prepare and understand that we have a solid teama group of hard fighters who don’t give upbut to be able to put in work day in and day out and pull out the championship is like a dream.”
“I believe todaybetter than any daywe played as a team,” Zaatini said. “Today, we had a couple of our rocks lose, so to have the other guys step up and win it was huge. No. 1 and No. 3 Doubles came through, which allowed us to carry that confidence into singles play.”
“Great teams always play their best when it matters most,” ETSU assistant coach Ricky Rojas said. “We played great. I am proud of this team!”
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
ETSU 4, Furman 0
Apr 26, 2015 at Greenville, S.C. (Mickel Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. David Biosca (ETSU 13.60) vs. Adam Steryous (FUR 12.87) 6-1, 5-4 unf
1. David Biosca/Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) def. Matt Browne/Ben Horst (FUR) 8-6
2. Adam Steryous/Cameron Green (FUR) def. Ismael Merino/Robert Herrera (ETSU) 8-6
3. Diego Nunez/Conner Huertas (ETSU) def. Jacob Behal/Juan Sheppard (FUR) 8-6
Match Notes: Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,6,3)
Southland:
#1 Texas A&M Corpus Christi won its 3rd straight Southland Championship with a 4-2 win over #2 seed and host Lamar. Lamar squeaked out the doubles point by winning the deciding court at #3 in a tiebreak but A&M CC would rebound with wins from Kevin Bettendroffer, Guillaume Rauseo, and Javier Pujol at 2, 4, and 5 to go up 3-1. Lamar closed the gap to 3-2 with a 7-6, 7-5 upset win by Nikita Lis (UTR 13.04) over Peter Nagy (UTR 14.28) but A&M CC’s Ricardo Mayagoitia would clinch the title for the Islanders by winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 at #3 over Benny Schweizer.
Also wanted to give props to A&M CC’s Twitter guy/gal for doing a great job with match updates.
“This was the best tennis college match I have ever been a part of as a coach and a player,” Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. “I can’t tell you how much respect I have for Lamar, Coach Scott Shankles and the way their team competed today. I also can’t put into words how proud I am of our team and the amount of heart that they showed to never give up and the courage they had to pull this out today.
“I can’t begin to tell you about the courage of little Ricardo Mayagoitia who has the biggest heart in the world for his team. I will never forget how hard this team fought today. This was absolute electric environment for five hours.”
“Lamar’s crowd was amazing and the way they competed on their home court was as tenacious as I have ever seen,” Moore said. “I don’t think there is one person of the 200 plus people there today that didn’t scream for five hours. There were two teams that deserved to win this match.
“It took every member of this men’s and women’s team and every member of the Islanders Athletics department that was here fighting as hard as they could to pull this off today. I also want to take a moment to thank Stephanie McDonald and the staff at the Southland Conference as well as the staff at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center, who even with numerous rain delays and adverse conditions made this an amazing experience for all the student-athletes.”
“I’m very humbled and blessed to be a part of this exceptionally high-character tennis program,” Moore added.
“We did a really good job against Corpus Christi today. They have more experience than us in this scenario, and I believe that helped them,” said head coach Scott Shankles. “You have to tip your hat to them. They are champions for a reason.
“Today they were a better team late just by a little bit,” he said.
“Nagy is a great player, and is probably the mostly mentally tough player we have ever come across in our league,” said Shankles. “So for Nik to beat a guy who is nationally ranked really says a lot of him. He’s lost to him in the past, but never lets those losses affect him.”
“Nik always comes in with a game plan, and he had a good one today,” said Shankles. “Clearly he executed it the way he intended and I’m very proud of him for doing that.”
“That wasn’t the result that we wanted, but there’s nothing to be ashamed to finish second,” said Shankles. “We’ll learn from it and get better. Hopefully it’ll help us get back here again and win it.”
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
#60 Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 4, Lamar 2
4/26/2015 at Beaumont, Texas
Singles competition
1. Nikita Lis (LU 13.04) def. #101 Peter Nagy (AMCC 14.28) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
2. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC 13.08) def. Michael Feucht (LU 12.80) 6-3, 6-4
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 19-6; National ranking #60
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,4,5,1,3)
2015 Southland Conference Championships
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – #1 Seed
Lamar – #2 Seed A&M-Corpus Christi receives Southland’s automatic bid to NCAA Championships
The Summit League
#1 Denver won its 2nd straight Summit Championship by overwhelming #3 IPFW 4-0. Denver took the doubles point with wins at 2 and 3 then the Pioneers took all 6 opening sets with Henry Craig, Diogo Rocha, and Alex Gasson finishing off their matches in straight sets at 1, 2, and 3.
It was a sad day for the IPFW tennis program because it was announced a few months ago that the program was going to be dropped after this season so as of today there is no more IPFW men’s or women’s tennis.
Note: Every court except #6 singles had a Universal Tennis Rating gap of more than 1.0 which means IPFW was a huge underdog on those 5 courts.
“We are really happy with how the guys played and competed all weekend,” said Assistant Coach Drew Eberly. “I’m really proud of their effort and can’t wait to see what we can do in the NCAA’s.”
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
#51 Denver 4, IPFW 0
Apr 26, 2015 at Fort Wayne, Ind. (Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Tennis Ctr.)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,1,2) 2015 Summit League Championship Match
WAC:
#1 New Mexico State won its 1st ever WAC Championship with a 4-3 win over UT Pan American. UTPA took the doubles point with wins at 1 and 2 but NMSU responded with lopsided wins from Patrick Pfister, Liam Goldberg, and Germain Degardin at 4, 5, and 6. UTPA tied it up at 3 with wins from Juan Cruz Soria and Hector Ramirez at 1 and 2 which meant it would come down to a 3rd set at #3 singles. After dropping the first set 6-3 Christofer Goncalves would take the next two 7-5, 7-5 to give NMSU its championship.
“We didn’t get it done today,” Broncs head coach Brandon Stokes said. “But it wasn’t from a lack of energy, effort, spirit, resiliency, intensity or brotherhood. Our family possesses these qualities more than any team in our conference or region.”
“Congratulations to New Mexico State,” Stokes said. “Their freshman of the year beat our freshman of the year in the deciding match 7-5 in the third. They won it. This is a temporary moment of sadness that we will keep in perspective balanced by other issues in our personal history and social history that transcend sports. Tomorrow we start improving our team and program for next season and the seasons after that. The process is bigger than any one results.”
“I am honored to be the coach, teacher and mentor to these seven Broncs,” Stokes said. “It has been an amazing year. This is only the beginning.”
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of April 27th For more details about UTR check out their website.
New Mexico State 4, Texas-Pan American 3
Apr 26, 2015 at WAC Men’s Tennis Championship – Kansas City, Mo. (Plaza Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Juan Cruz Soria (UTPA 12.91) def. Strahinja Trecakov (NMSU 11.93) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
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