Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis has continued its national championship tradition by winning NAIA singles and doubles titles at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup on Sunday at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.

DRAWS: SINGLES | DOUBLES

Junior Santiago Villarruel was part of both titles, defeating David Ekpenyong of Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) by identical 6-3 set scores in the singles championship match. Then, he teamed with senior Jeremias Rocco to defeat seniors Andoni Garmendia and Aleksandr Kalinin in an all-GGC doubles final by a 6-2, 6-1 score.

GGC players posted a remarkable 11-1 record at this weekend's ITA Cup, with the lone setback coming in Sunday's doubles national final.

In the singles final, Villarruel captured 20 of the final 23 points to win the last five games of the first set. He then broke Ekpenyoung's serve to take a 3-1 lead in the second set. Villarruel was successful on five of the seven break point chances and connected on 79 percent of his first serves to win his first singles national title.

Villarruel becomes the sixth different Grizzly men's tennis player to achieve the NAIA singles national championship. He joins Kevin Konfederak, Federico Herrera Duran, Jose Dugo, Agustin Tamagnone, and Paras Dahiya in achieving the feat.

Meanwhile, the Rocco-Villarruel doubles team becomes the fourth straight GGC duo – and seventh different Grizzly pair – to capture a NAIA individual championship. Villarruel won last season's title with Alex Gurmendi. Other GGC NAIA doubles title winners included Kevin Konfederak-Jordan Cox, Gilad Berman-Konfederak, Ayed Zatar-Valentino Caratini, Agustin Tamagnone-Caratini, and Jose Dugo-Leonardo Sprovieri.

"Congratulations to all the men that competed in today's doubles final. It was a great tournament for them, and they will take this, with a lot of confidence, into our spring season. Jeremias played fantastic all weekend and never let up. That led to them to clinching today's title," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.

The coach added, "Andoni and Aleksandr had an exceptional tournament. Making it to the national final as a first-time pair is amazing. They truly stepped in and represented what GGC is all about."
 
Coach's Corner
"I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish this event, with Santiago winning the doubles title again and capturing his first singles national title. For our team, I'm so excited for what's to come this spring. This team is hardworking and proudly continues our program's traditions and expectations. This mindset will have us continue to be successful," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College will now prepare for the team competition during the 2025 spring dual-match season.