Georgia Gwinnett College Athletics

The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team will play for its seventh straight NAIA national championship after earning a 4-0 semifinal victory against No. 4 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University on Friday afternoon at the NAIA National Championship tournament from the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.

The victory sets up a battle with No. 2 seed Keiser University (Florida) for the 2021 national title on Saturday, May 22, at 1 p.m. central time.

The Grizzlies (23-0) have won all three matches in this year's tournament by sweeps and now own a 27-0 all-time match record in postseason play.

In Friday's semifinal match, GGC played flawless in doubles, winning 12 of the 15 games across the No. 1 and No. 2 courts to capture the point and early 1-0 lead. Junior Valentino Caratini and freshman Luis Gomar teamed to pick up a dominating 6-1 triumph on the No. 2 court, before the duo of junior Federico Bonacia and sophomore Matthias Haim captured a 6-2 victory on the No. 1 court.

The six-time defending national champions kept the momentum rolling in singles play.

Gomar recorded a 6-1, 6-0 victory against German Delcanto at No. 3 singles to increase GGC's lead to 2-0. A few minutes later, junior Vicente Lagos also won by identical 6-1, 6-0 scores at No. 6 singles.

Three other Grizzlies were one game away from capturing the match-clinching victory. That fourth point went to Haim, who won a second-set tiebreaker 8-6 at No. 2 singles over Valentin Popescu. Haim won the opening set by a 6-2 score.

Sophomore Jose Dugo and Caratini were leading their singles matches on serve across the No. 4 and No. 5 courts, respectively.

GGC has won its three National Championship tournament matches this year against the highest possibly seed.

Friday's victory also extended the program's record-setting winning streak to 146 consecutive matches.
 
Coach's Corner
"We're playing some strong doubles, possibly the best that we've ever played in program history. We just have to keep it going for one more day. Tennessee Wesleyan is a good program, but our guys came out ready to play. Only one team can end its season with a win and we've put ourselves in a position to be the last team standing. I'm thrilled to have a team that's back playing for a national title," said Head Coach Chase Hodges.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to face No. 2 seed Keiser University (Florida) in the 2021 NAIA national championship match on Saturday, May 22, at 1 p.m. central time at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.