Seniors played a crucial role in leading the Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team to its third straight Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA Indoor National Championships title with a victory Sunday evening at the Rome (Georgia) Tennis Center.
The Grizzlies (6-0), the tournament's No. 2 seed, defeated No. 4 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University 4-1, with the three singles points secured by the team's senior players.
GGC captured the title by defeating three opponents by a 12-1 cumulative score.
Sunday's match marked the third straight season the Grizzlies and Bulldogs (5-2) have met in the NAIA indoor final, with GGC winning each of those encounters. The two teams faced for the outdoor championship in 2023 – also won by GGC.
"Credit to Tennessee Wesleyan for playing a great championship match. I am proud of our guys. La familia (program mantra) remains strong and the championship tradition continues," said Head Coach
Tom Rees, who is in his first season leading the program.
The Grizzlies quickly secured the doubles point, for a 1-0 match lead, as senior
Juan Carlos Garcia and freshman
Yerassyl Yerdilda teaming to win 6-2 on the No. 3 court. Earlier, senior
Francisco Perez Esnaola and sophomore
Gian Durrer combined to win six of the seven games at No. 2 doubles.
The singles matches were much more challenging as all six matches went to a deciding third set.
GGC started the singles play strong by winning the opening set on five courts. Carlos Garcia extended the team's lead by winning the third set 6-1 on the No. 4 court. That came after he won the first frame by an identical 6-1 score.
At the top of the singles lineup, senior
Santiago Villarruel rallied from being down a service break in the third set to defeat Lucas Grana 6-4 in the deciding set to extend the Grizzlies' lead to 3-0 in the match.
Tennessee Wesleyan got on the scoreboard with a victory on the No. 3 court.
However, Perez Esnaola closed out the match at No. 5 singles with a 6-2 third-set score against Asier Pascual. That collected the match-clinching fourth point.
Coach's Corner
"After a great doubles point we had to dig deep and fight in singles. Big matches usually come down to who performs best in the moment. It was cool to see three seniors call on all of their experience to close it out for the Grizzlies," said Head Coach
Tom Rees.
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to travel to NCAA Division II Lander University on Wednesday, February 18, in Greenwood, South Carolina, starting at 1:30 p.m.
