Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis players captured NAIA individual national singles and doubles titles after a pair of thrilling three-set victories Sunday in the championship matches at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup at the Rome Tennis Center.

DRAWS

Senior Santiago Villarruel successfully defended his 2024 singles title by rallying from dropping the opening set. Later, Villarruel teamed with classmate Luis Francisco Sampedro to capture the doubles title by once again coming back from losing the first set.

Both matches were moved indoors because of overnight weather conditions.

Villarruel, the tournament's top seed, defeated No. 2 seed Shaheed Alam of Keiser University (Florida) by a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 score.

"I am just absolutely over the moon for Santiago in his performance. He fought for every single point and simply never gave up. Winning back-to-back championships is incredible and a true credit to his work ethic and determination. That is what this program is all about," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.

GGC's doubles pairing, the No. 2 seed in the draw, forced a deciding third set against the top-seeded Seahawks with a 6-3 second-set score.

They maintained the momentum by getting an early break and closed out the match by once again breaking Keiser's serve to win the national title by 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 scores.

"What Santiago and Luis achieved was special in winning their first title together. They etched themselves in program history. It was an amazing performance. They stepped up for each other in big moments throughout the match," stated Keeling.

Villarruel has won five individual NAIA national titles, including three doubles championships with three different partners. Francisco Sampedro was competing in his first fall season after being a member of the 2024 NAIA team national champion.
 
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Georgia Gwinnett College players will now turn their attention to the 2026 spring season with competition during the dual match portion of the schedule.