Saints win UMAC postseason men's tennis title to earn first-ever NCAA berth
DULUTH, Minn.---Last May, the University of Northwestern upset the College of St. Scholastica in incredible fashion in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's tennis postseason championship match to claim the first-ever men's tennis automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament for the conference.
After a dominating season in the UMAC this spring, the Saints made sure that wouldn't happen again as they gained back the title with a 8-1 win over the Eagles Saturday. This will be the first-ever men's tennis NCAA appearance for the Saints.
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The Saints jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead taking all three doubles matches. The No. 3 pair of Anton Sopin and Jack Kearney battled for a 8-5 win to give the Saints a commanding lead going into singles.
The next win came at No. 4 single where Sopin cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win to give the Saints a 4-0 lead that would make it difficult for the Eagles to come out victorious and defend their title. The Saints sealed up the win when Elliot Schneider finished at No. 2 singles with a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
Despite being unable to win the match, the Eagles battled some of the Saints into third-set tiebreakers. No. 3 singles saw Rafa Gonzalez win 6-2 in the opening set before going down 6-2 to Austin Bricker. Gonzlez grabbed the sixth point of the match with a 10-2 win in the tiebreaker.
Matthew Wedin won the lone point for the Eagles finishing up next at No. 5 singles 6-4, 7-5 over Kearney. Two-time UMAC Player of the Year Serhii Tykhonenko was challenged by Landon Ridpath who took the opening set 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Tykhonenko bounced back 6-4 in the second set before claiming win seven for the Saints with a 10-4 decision in the tie-breaker.
Jake Jolowsky earned the final win at No. 6 singles with a 6-3 win in the opner before falling 4-6 to Isaac Velgersdyk. Jolowsky then finished off the championship with a 10-4 win in the tiebreaker third set.
The Eagles end their season with an impressive 16-8 record, while the Saints improve to 14-7. With the win, the Saints will represent the UMAC in the NCAA tournament and will learn their fate after 11 a.m. on Monday at ncaa.com.
Playoff Schedule
Semifinal - Monday, April 29
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Martin Luther, 9-0 |
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CSS Recap |
MLC Recap |
Semifinal - Wednesday, May 1
No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior, 7-2 |
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UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
Championship Match - Saturday, May 4
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 2 Northwestern, 8-1 |
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CSS Recap |
UNW Recap |
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Men’s Tennis Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.