Georgia Gwinnett College junior Santiago Villarruel collected hardware as a singles and doubles champion at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's South Regional on Sunday morning at the GGC Tennis Facility.

DRAWS: SINGLES | DOUBLES

Villarruel becomes the first GGC player since Federico Bonacia in 2020 to capture ITA regional titles in both tournament draws.

The No. 2 seed claimed a straight-set victory against the top-seeded Octavio Volpi of Tennessee Wesleyan University in the singles finale. Villarruel won the last four games to win the opening set, 6-3, to grab early momentum of the match.

The players then held their serves in the second set until the Grizzly broke Volpi's service game at 5-5 to take his first lead of the set. Villarruel then rallied from a 0-30 game in his own service game, winning four straight points to secure the crown by a 6-3, 7-5 score.

"Qualifying for nationals in singles (at the ITA Cup) was one of my goals and I worked really hard in preparing for this week. Winning the first set was important because he (Volpi) had played a lot of three-set matches this week. My service game at 4-5 in the second set was huge because he applied lots of pressure. I stayed strong and got him to miss to get that break point," said Villarruel.

Later, the top-seeded doubles team of senior Jeremias Rocco and Villarruel recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory in an all-GGC regional championship match that also featured the tandem of seniors Aleksandr Kalinin and Jose Garmendia.

"There's amazing chemistry (in doubles) with Santiago. It is tough playing teammates in a final, but great for GGC that our two doubles teams were able to make it there. There was a different kind of pressure on the court today, but it was a good week for all of us," said Rocco.

ITA regional champions automatically advance to the ITA Cup to compete for NAIA individual national championships October 10-13 in Rome, Georgia. Semifinalists are eligible to earn ITA Cup at-large selections, which will be announced later.

"We're a new doubles team that got better with each match in this tournament. It was a positive week. Our semifinal victory showed what we're capable of playing, with a third set (winning 6-0 score) that was nearly perfect," said Garmendia.

Kalinin added, "Having both doubles teams playing in the final really meant a lot to all of us. I'm proud that we were able to win matches and play as well as we did this week as a new doubles team."
 
Coach's Corner
"Being a double champion was an incredible achievement for Santiago this weekend. It's a testament to his hard work and fight as a Grizzly. He played fantastic today against a solid player from Tennessee Wesleyan. I was also pleased to see two of our teams – both first-time pairings – competing in the men's doubles final," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College players are scheduled to compete in the ITA Cup from October 10-13 in Rome, Georgia.