The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team is back in the familiar position of playing for a NAIA national championship after sweeping No. 5 seed Southeastern University (Florida) 4-0 in Friday's semifinal match of the 2026 UTR Sports NAIA National Championship at the Mobile (Alabama) Tennis Center.
The Grizzlies (24-0) have won 10 of the last 11 national titles and were runner up last season.
GGC started the match by winning a hard-fought doubles point, holding off a valiant Southeastern (17-5) effort. The tandem of senior
Juan Carlos Garcia and freshman
Yerassyl Yerdilda took a 6-2 victory at No. 3 court before Southeastern came out on top 6-4 on the No. 2 court.
That called upon the No. 1-ranked GGC senior duo of
Luis Francisco Sampedro and
Santiago Villarruel to outduel Javier Gallego and Piero Fernandez at the top of the lineup. The Grizzly team won the last two games to pull out a 7-5 victory and secure the important doubles point in the dual match.
The team carried over the strong play into the singles matches, winning the first set on four of the six courts.
Junior
Kanan Gasimov gave GGC a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Nikolas Kumria at No. 6 singles. Senior
Francisco Perez Esnaola then put the team on the brink of victory with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 performance against Gonzalo Fernandez on the No. 4 court.
Carlos Garcia secured the semifinal sweep with a 6-1, 7-5 straight-set triumph over Aristeidis Lafazanos at No. 5 singles.
Georgia Gwinnett College will face No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University in the championship match on Saturday, May 16, starting at 9 a.m. central time. The Grizzlies defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 in the final of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA Indoor National Championship earlier this season. Saturday's match will be the second national championship match between the two rivals, with the Grizzlies picking up a 4-0 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan to cap off the 2023 campaign.
Coach's Corner
"We knew we needed to raise our playing level today against a good Southeastern team and we achieved that goal. We played well again in the pressure-packed moments. The guys are excited to prove what La Familia (the family) is all about in tomorrow's final," said Head Coach
Tom Rees.
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to face No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan University in the 2026 UTR Sports NAIA National Championship title match on Saturday, May 16, at the Mobile (Alabama) Tennis Center, starting at 9 a.m. central time.
