ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the second time in three seasons, the Belmont University men's tennis team is headed to the NCAA Championship. In their first-ever Horizon League Championship, the top-seeded Bruins defeated rival Tennessee Tech 4-1 in the 2023 title match Sunday afternoon indoors at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For the second consecutive day, junior
Tomas Luis provided the clinching point in a three-set match at No. 3 singles.
After winning the doubles point in its earlier two meetings with the second-seeded South Division Golden Eagles (9-14, 7-2 Horizon), Belmont was forced to overcome a 1-0 deficit following doubles action. However, the Bruins (21-5, 10-0 Horizon) were resilient in singles play as Belmont's depth proved to be pivotal. Belmont took all four of the No. 3-6 singles matches, including three straight-set triumphs at the fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
With both head coaches and the league agreeing to play indoors due to chilly temperatures and the threat of precipitation later, the Bruins quickly found themselves battling an inspired Tennessee Tech squad. The Golden Eagles capitalized early and got breaks on all three doubles courts. Belmont would stabilize things in all three matches, but Tennessee Tech escaped at the second position where Evzen Holis and Pol Masafret topped junior
Alfred Wallin and senior
Jack Randall 6-4.
At No. 3 doubles, Luis and sophomore
Ian Cruz came back against the Golden Eagles' Paulo Ramos Martin and Jaime Paquet to force a tiebreaker after facing two match points at 5-2. Despite Luis and Cruz' efforts, the Bruins' nationally-ranked duo was upset at the top spot. Snapping graduate student
Marko Ilic and junior
Riccardo Trione's 12-match win streak and handing the pair only their second loss of the season, Tennessee Tech's Elias Grubert and Mika Berghaus came back from 5-4 and clinched the doubles point at 7-5. With all the momentum in their doubles contest, Luis and Cruz led 5-1 in the tiebreak when the Golden Eagles secured the crucial doubles point.
Although both Luis and Cruz won their opening singles sets in bagel fashion, 6-0, it was Trione who evened the afternoon at 1-1 with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory over Masafret at the fifth flight. Down set point at deuce at 5-2 in the second set, Cruz rattled off five-straight games to defeat Ramos Martin 6-0, 7-5 at the fourth position. Randall then gave Belmont a 3-1 lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Paquet at No. 6 singles.
Taking on Holis at the third position, Luis fell 6-1 in the second set after his dominant first set. In the decisive third, Luis was determined and found himself with championship point at 5-3, 30-40 and Holis serving. Luis took a second serve and ripped it inside-out to win the title.
The championship is the Bruins' third conference tournament title after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Championship in 2021 and the ASUN Conference Championship in 2006.
Belmont will make its third NCAA Championship appearance next weekend after earning the Horizon League's automatic bid.
Luis' victory was his 25th singles win of the year, representing the most in a single-season in program history. He broke Rodrigo Amaral's single-season record of 24 wins in 2008-09.
Extending their single-season record for match victories to 21, the Bruins have now won 14 in a row.
Belmont will learn of its NCAA first-round location and opponent with the 2023 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship selection show Monday at 5:30 p.m. CT, which will be broadcast live on
NCAA.com. The first and second rounds of the 64-team NCAA Championship will be played at campus sights next weekend, Friday-Sunday, May 5-7.
Follow Belmont men's tennis on social media –
@BelmontMTennis on Twitter and
@belmontmtennis on Instagram – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the
official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
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