By Natalie Bunch/Special to USTA Southern
Wake Forest earned their first national tennis championship as the men's team defeated No. 3 Ohio State 4-2 at the Wake Forest (NC) Tennis Complex.
The Demon Deacons and Buckeyes played a tight match starting with doubles. On court two neither team dropped a service game in the first 10 games. The No. 35 duo of Petros Chrysochos/ Bar Botzer broke serve for Wake Forest. They went on to win court one to secure a 1-0 edge. No. 21 Borna Gojo/Skander Mansouri defeated Ohio State’s Martin Joyce/JJ Wolf in a tight, 7-5 battle. The Deacons ended the season winning 26 of 33 doubles points.
Singles play was equally competitive. With the match tied 2-2, Mansouri regained the Wake Forest lead, defeating Ohio State’s John McNally. With court one still in action, Botzer secured the Deacon win with a 6-4, 7-5 victoryon court four over Tim Seibert.
Wake Forest finished with a 31-2 record overall. The NCAA tournament was the team’s first trip to the semifinals as well as championship … even though they didn’t have to travel very far.
Vanderbitl falls one match short of championship
The Vanderbilt women's tennis team was ranked 11th and ahead of the Stanford Cardinal, slotted at 15th. But, the Commodores fell short as it aimed for it second national championship, losing 4-3.
Vanderbilt won the doubles point behind Astra Sharma/Fernanda Contreras. Sharma defeated Michaela Gordon in singles to tie the match at 3-3.The championship came down to the match between Contreras and Stanford's Melissa Lord, who prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
The Commodores capped one of its most successful seasons and finishedas the Southeastern Conference's reigning regular season and tournament champions.
Columbus State claims first national title
In a tight 5-4 battle, No. 2 Columbus State upset No 1. Barry to win the program’s first NCAA Division II championship.
The Cougars entered singles competition with a 2-1 edge after doubles play. Singles play started slow for Columbus State. Barry claimed the first two singles matches to jump to a 3-2 lead. The top three courts all went to a third set in a tight final match-up. Junior KP Pannu, the Peach Belt Player of the Year, and freshman Alvaro Regalado, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Rookie of the Year, pulled out big wins for the Cougars. They won by identical 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 scores.
The Cougars capped the season with 16 straight victories. In addition to winning their first national title, Columbus State swept the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for a second consecutive season.
Georgia Gwinnett men and women dominate the NAIA
Georgia Gwinnett men’s tennis defeated No. 2 Keiser University 5-0 to win the program’s fifth consecutive NAIA national championship.
The senior duo of Kevin Konfederak/Gilad Berman set the pace by claiming the first point of the match 8-2. The Grizzlies won every doubles point to secure the lead going into singles play. Berman clinched the title with annace, winning line two 6-3, 6-4..
The Grizzlies went undefeated for a fifth consecutive season. Head coach Chase Hodges won NAIA Head Coach of the Year for the fifth year in a row. Senior Gilad Berman earned the national championships’ Most Outstanding Player accolade.
Georgia Gwinnett women’s tennis defeated No. 1 Keiser University to pick up their third consecutive national championship title. The Grizzlies fell to Keiser during the regular season but were determined to not vacate their title streak.
Two big wins on courts two and three gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead going into the singles competition. They also had led the Seahawks, 2-1 during the regular season loss.
Gwinnett Georgia’s player retired on court one during singles play, knotting the match at 2-2. On the other five courts, the Grizzlies jumped to early leads winning all the first sets. Margarida Abreu regained the lead for Grizzlies with a straight set win on the last court. Freshman Madeline Bosnjak, the Most Outstanding Player of the NAIA Championship, followed suit and won her match in straight sets. The final point was decided by a win from Maria Prados Cid.
Oxford-Emory wins fourth straight NJCAA crown
For the fourth straight year, Oxford College of Emory University won the NJCAA DIII men’s national championship.
The Eagles did not lose a single set throughout the tournament and won all of their nine flights each day during the three-day tournament. This marks the Eagles’ seventh title, a NJCAA Division III record. Overall, Oxford-Emory accumulated a 14-4 record over the season.
Wake Forest claims first men’s singles title
Wake Forest junior Peter Chrysochos defeated sophomore teammate Borna Gojo in the NCAAI individual championship 6-3, 6-3. The battle between the Deacons marked the fourth time in history two men from the same school advanced to the championship.
Chrysochos took an early 2-0 lead in the first set. He never lost his lead in his effort to win the title. In the second set he broke Gojo twice and served for the victory. Chrysochos ends singles play 44-4 this season. He capped off the season with 30 consecutive wins.
The two Deacons earned First Team All-ACC honors this season, and they were the second and third players from Wake Forest history to advance to the finals.
Ole Miss wins first women’s singles championship
Mississippi's Arianne Hartono defeated Pepperdine’s Ashley Lahey, 6-4, 6-2. Hartono, the SEC Player of the Year, earned the first women’s singles title for the Rebels. In the first set Lahey was up 3-1 and continued to hold her lead until 4-2. Hartono, who had come from behind multiple times en route to the championship, held then broke Lahey twice to take the first set . Hartono jumped to a 5-1 lead in the second set. Lahey broke her, bur Hartono broke right back to take the championship.Hartono finished the season 37-6. The Rebels advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in team competition.
LSU claims first women’s doubles title in program history
Junior Jessica Golovin and freshman Eden Richardson, of LSU, defeated the No. 13 ranked Oklahoma State pair of Vladic Babic/Sofia Blanco, 6-3, 6-2 to win the NCAA women's doubles crown. The Tigers quickly took a 3-0 lead en route to winning the first set and they did not let up in the second set winning 6-2. The duo ended the season with eight wins against ranked doubles teams. The pair capped off the year with a 19-8 record in doubles action.
Kyle Schanlanger helps Middlebury win doubles against Emory
Kyle Schanlanger, of Summerfield, NC, and his partner, Lubomir Cuba, won the Division III men’s doubles championship 6-0, 6-2. This was the Panther’s second doubles championship in program history. The pair dominated through the semis and finals winning both matches in straight sets. They defeated the duo of Scott Rubenstein and James Spaulding of Emory in the final.
Jeremy Yuan loses in men’s doubles semis
Johns Creek, GA's Jeremy Yuan and his University of Chicago teammate Tyler Raclin lost in semifinals play to Emory’s Spaulding and Rubenstein, 6-3, 6-2. The pair is the second duo in school history to advance to the semifinals. They posted a 26-8 record for the season. Freshman Yuan played for Northview High School where he was the 2017 Athlete of the Year.