The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team couldn't capitalize on early victories in suffering a 4-3 loss to No. 2 seed Keiser University (Florida) in a down-the-wire final of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's inaugural NAIA Indoor Championship on Sunday night in Overland Park, Kansas.
The loss ends the Grizzlies' historic 173-match winning streak, which had been the longest active winning streak in collegiate sports and the history of collegiate tennis. Those winning ways spanned seven undefeated seasons and dual matches since April 3, 2015.
GGC (5-1) captured the match's doubles point when the freshmen tandem of
Dhakshineswar Suresh and
Paras Dahiya earned a 6-4 victory on the No. 1 court. Earlier, senior
Federico Bonacia and junior
Alex Gurmendi won all six games at No. 3 doubles.
The lead extended to 3-0 after Suresh defeated Keiser's Heber Santos by 6-1 and 6-4 scores on the No. 2 singles court and Gurmendi won by identical 6-2 set scores in the No. 1 match.
Keiser (3-2) won the remaining four points of the match, with each contest extending to three sets. Yassir Kilani won his third set by a 6-2 score on the No. 4 court for the team's first point.
The Seahawks' Gaston Cantero rallied by capturing the final two sets 6-4 and 6-3 at No. 3 singles and Soufiane El Mesbahi won the third set on the No. 5 court by a 6-1 score. That tied the match at 3-3.
Then, Martin Carrizo completed the comeback with a 6-1 victory in the deciding third set at No. 5 singles.
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host a doubleheader against NCAA Division I The Citadel (South Carolina) on Saturday, February 11, from the GGC Tennis Facility.
