Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis players will compete for individual NAIA singles and doubles national championships following impressive semifinals triumphs at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup on Saturday at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.

DRAWS

Senior Santiago Villarruel, the top seed in the singles draw, won the opening set against Lindsey Wilson University's (Kentucky) Lev Sholosh by a 6-3 score. He then got an early break of serve and saved three set points to even the score at 5-5 in the second set.

After regaining the momentum, Villarruel broke Sholosh's serve and eventually closed out the semifinal contest by holding his own serve to take the set at 7-5 and sealing the victory.

Later, Villarruel teamed with senior Luis Francisco Sampedro to collect a straight-set semifinal triumph against a duo from Lindsey Wilson by 6-4, 6-3 scores.

The NAIA singles and doubles finals on Sunday, October 18, feature the top two seeds in each tournament draw. Villarruel will face Keiser University's Shaheed Alam at 9 a.m. for the singles title. Then, the No. 2-seeded Grizzly duo will face a team from Keiser in the doubles final at 11 a.m.
 
Coach's Corner
"It was a great day with victories in the singles and doubles semifinals setting up another chance to be individual national champions. That's exactly our goal every year. There were exceptional performances by Santiago and Luis in singles and doubles. I can't wait to see them perform tomorrow," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College players are scheduled to play for NAIA singles and doubles national championships at the ITA Cup on Sunday, October 19, at the Rome Tennis Center, with singles starting at 9 a.m.