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D2 Tennis – Valdosta State gets revenge

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:57:35 +0000

(Courtesy VStateBlazers.com)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – In a rematch of 2010 NCAA Division II National Championship match, Valdosta State gained a measure of revenge as the Blazers defeated Barry 5-2 to win the 2011 national title.

As with the 2010 championship, Valdosta State jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play. The Blazers cruised through the first two points as Philip Pakebusch and Luis Loeffler rebounded from a first game loss at No. 2 to take the next seven games. The Barry duo of Marco Mokrzycki and Quentin Vachez rebounded to win the ninth game, only to have VSU close out the match with an 8-2 victory in the next game.

Daniel Dueren and Christian Hansen gave the Blazers a second point at No. 1 doubles as they defeated Emanuel Fraitzl and Max Wimmer 8-3. Valdosta State’s top team won the first give games of the match and eventually built a 7-1 lead before Fraitzl and Wimmer claimed back-to-back game wins. However, Dueren and Hansen rebounded to hold serve for the victory.

Barry’s only point of doubles play came at No. 3 where Oliver Lemaitre and Sergio Velez overcame an early deficit to claim an 8-6 victory. Valdosta State’s Otto Lenhart and Bernhard Wallner won the first four games of the match, only to have Lemairtre and Velez win three of the next four. The Barry duo eventually took a 6-5 advantage and after, Lenhart and Wallner evened the match, won the final two games to give the Bucs their first point.

Barry evened the match at 2-2 as it claimed the first singles point at No. 6. Romain Costamanga dropped the first game of the first set, before rebounding to win the next six for a first set victory. The Buc player also won the first three games of the second set before VSU’s Lenhart battled back to close within 5-3. However, Costamanga held serve for the final point to even the team score.

Kutschenko put Valdosta State back in front with a straight sets victory at No. 5. over Lemaitre. The duo played a closely contested first set that saw Lemaitre hold the largest lead at 5-3, but Kutschenko fought back to close to within 6-5 and then broke his opponent to force the tie-break, which he easily won 7-2 for a first set 7-6 victory. Kutschenko won the first four games of the second set to cruise to a 6-1 victory.

Hansen put the Blazers on the brink of the championship as he claimed a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Mokrzycki at No. 3. Hansen raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, only to have the Barry player fight back to even the game at 4-4 and against at 6-6. Holding a 5-4 advantage in the tie break, the VSU player claimed the final two points for the first set victory. Mokrzycki jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in the second set, only to have Hansen fight back to even the match at 3-3 and eventually claim a 5-3 lead en route to the victory.

Loeffler closed out the match with a straight set win at No. 4 over Vachez. Loeffler built a big 4-1 advantage in the first set, but Vachez fought back to claim a 6-5 advatange before Loeffler held serve to force the tie break. Loeffler again led in the tie break as he built a 5-3 advantage en route to an 8-6 victory to win the first set 7-6. The first six games of the second set were just as close as the first match before Loeffler took advantage of the match when he broke serve and held his own. A return on a shot by Loeffler sailed wide to the right to close out the championship.

With the victory, Valdosta State won its second national championship in the six years. The Blazers finish the season with a 21-1 record.

– Courtesy VStateBlazers.com

D2 Tennis – Barry takes first women’s title

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:48:00 +0000

(Courtesy Barry Athletics)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.— A sixteen-hour delay wasn’t enough to deter the Barry University women’s tennis team from winning their first-ever national championship over the Lynn University Knights on Sunday afternoon. Though play was stopped on Saturday afternoon, the Bucs came out with force on Sunday morning and took one doubles match and four singles matches to win the school’s ninth national championship since 1989.

It was fitting that the final point came down to the top singles flight where senior co-captain, SSC Player of the Year, and third-ranked, Barbi Pocza, was engaged in a three-set battle with #5 Magdalena Ekert. Pocza was flawless in the first set, taking all six games for a first-set win.

Ekert took the win in the second set by a 6-3 score. Pocza took the first game, but Ekert took the next two and two of the final three to help her to the second-set win.

With the Bucs up 4-3, and Laura Boguet still engaged in her own three-set battle with #32 Jessica Yanoff, Pocza and Ekert traded games back and forth through 3-3. It was all Pocza in the final three, however, breaking Ekert twice to take the 6-3 win in the third set and Barry’s final point for the national championship.

The Bucs started the match in doubles action on Saturday before the match was called for the night due to weather. Doubles action finished on Sunday morning with Barry taking one point and Lynn taking two.

The second-ranked duo of Pocza and Angie Werschel beat #4 Eleonora Iannozzi and Ioana Ivan 8-6. Prior to the delay on Saturday, the Bucs trailed 6-4. The team took all four games on Sunday morning, breaking the Knights twice, for the 8-6 win.

At number two doubles, #22 Laura Boguet and Alex Gwizdowski lost 8-5 to eleventh-ranked Ekert and Isabell Raich. They were down 7-2 after Saturday. On Sunday, they took the first three, but lost the final game.

At No. 3, Julie Stas and Olivia Matuszak lost 8-4 to Yanoff and Andrea Berkova. Lynn took the first two games then gave one to Barry. The Knights next took four straight and won two of the last five for the win.

The remaining Buccaneer points came in singles at flights three, four and six. Freshman Mona Mansour earned Barry’s second point to tie it up at 2-2. Mansour was dominant over Aleksis Vukadinovic, winning 6-0 and 6-1 at number six.

Moments later, Barry took a 3-2 lead as #44 Caroline Wendling upset #15 Raich in straight sets. Wendling took the third flight 6-0, 6-1.

The match was tied again at 3-3 when #36 Werschel lost 6-2, 6-1 to #9 Iannozi.

Matuszak beat #27 Ivan for the second time this season at No. 4. Matuszak downed Ivan 6-4, 6-0. Matuszak broke Ivan twice in the first set. Later in the first, Ivan broke Matuszak once to put the score of the set at 5-4. On serve, Matuszak took a 40-15 game to take the first set. In the second set, she was flawless, winning 6-0 to take the set and give Barry a 4-3 lead.

Boguet’s match with Yanoff went unfinished. Yanoff took the first set 5-7. Boguet dominated the second 6-2, and the pair was tied 3-3 in the third when the match ended.

The Bucs rolled through the first two rounds of the tournament on Wednesday and Thursday with 5-0 wins over #15 Cameron and #27 Concordia. In the semifinals, the Bucs faced off with and beat three-time defending national champion Armstrong Atlantic 5-3 to reach the championship match.

The Buccaneers had previously faced off against Lynn twice this season. In their regular-season matchup, the Knights took a 6-3 win over the Buccaneers. The teams met again in the Sunshine State Conference Championship match with the Buccaneers besting the Knights for a 5-2 win and their second-straight, and fifth overall, conference crown.

The Bucs finished the season with a 26-1 overall record. For the Buccaneers, this is their first NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship in school history and the school’s ninth overall.

AASU Back-to-Back Tennis Champions

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:54:00 +0000

In a titanic championship match lasting exactly five hours, the No. 1-ranked and defending DII national champion Armstrong Atlantic State men’s tennis team erased a 2-1 deficit in doubles to win, 5-4, over No. 2-ranked Barry and capture its second consecutive NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday in Altamonte Springs.

The match came down to No. 5 singles, where AASU (30-1) sophomore Rafael Array and Barry’s Roman Werschel played a three-set match to determine the match. Array won the first set, 6-4, but Werschel rallied to win the second set, 7-5, and set up one set for the title. Array broke Werschel’s serve at 5-3, winAAning the pivotal point at 14-50 and giving the Pirates their second NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis title. Barry finishes runner-up for the fourth time in school history and ends its season at 27-3.

It was the first time since 2003 and the eighth time overall that the NCAA DII Men’s Tennis championship has been decided by a 5-4 score. The Pirates are the first back-to-back champions since West Florida in 2004-05.

In the regular season, the two teams met with AASU also winning that time out, 5-4, giving the Sanlando Park crowd an indication of how this year’s championship match might shake out.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy AASU

Armstrong Atlantic Defends Women’s Tennis Title

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:50:00 +0000

At the 2008 NCAA Division II Sports Festival in Houston, the Armstrong Atlantic State women’s tennis team won the national title over Lynn. That morning, both Alida Muller-Wehlau and Gabriella Kovacs had match point, with Muller-Wehlau scoring the deciding point in the 5-2 win.

This year, it was Kovacs’ turn.

The junior from Szazhalombatta, Hungary, closed out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Jessica Yanoff at No. 4 singles to clinch the No. 3-ranked Lady Pirates’ fifth NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis National Championship, 5-2 again, over No. 2-ranked Lynn (28-1) on Saturday afternoon at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The Pirates (28-1) entered singles play needing just three wins, but Lynn won the first set in four of the six singles matches.

AASU now joins BYU-Hawaii (2002, 2003) as the only teams to win Division II Back-to-Back National Championships with both the men’s and the women’s teams. The Lady Pirates have also won back-to-back titles twice in school history, the first coming in 1995 and 1996. AASU evened its mark in NCAA DII National Championship contests at 5-5 – this was the Lady Pirates 10th appearance in the final. Lynn was making its seventh appearance in the finals and is 3-4 in those contests.

The win also avenged a 5-4 loss at Lynn back in March, the only loss this season for the Lady Pirates.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy AASU

D2 Women’s Tennis Field Announced

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:54:00 +0000

The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committee has selected the teams and 16 preliminary-round sites of the 2009 NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Championships.

The 16 preliminary-round tournaments will be conducted May 7-8, 8-9 or 7-9, with the winner of each preliminary-round tournament advancing to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Florida, hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Rollins College, May 13-16.

The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the following eight regions will conduct two preliminary-round tournaments: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West. The selection of teams for the championships is based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.

For information pertaining to teams, dates and sites, please see below for regional brackets.

Twenty-one conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2009 women’s championships. Each conference and its automatic qualifier is listed below:

California Collegiate Athletic Association – UC San Diego
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference – Philadelphia U.
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Shaw
Conference Carolinas – Erskine
East Coast Conference – Concordia (New York)
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference – Drury
Gulf South Conference – West Florida
Heartland Conference – St. Edward’s
Lone Star Conference – Abilene Christian
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association – Northwest Missouri State
Northeast-10 Conference – Stonehill
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference – St. Cloud State
Pacific West Conference – Brigham Young-Hawaii
Peach Belt Conference – Armstrong Atlantic State
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – California (Pennsylvania)
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Nebraska-Kearney
South Atlantic Conference – Carson Newman
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Tuskegee
Sunshine State Conference – Lynn
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Charleston (West Virginia)

In the finals of the 2008 championships, Armstrong Atlantic State University defeated Lynn, 5-2.

FULL STORY

– Courtesy NCAA.com

D2 Men’s Tennis Field Announced

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:50:00 +0000

The NCAA Division II Tennis Committee has selected the teams and 16 preliminary-round sites for the 2009 NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis Championships.

For information pertaining to teams, dates and site, please see below for the regional brackets.

Fourteen conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2009 men’s championships. Each conference and its automatic qualifier is listed below:

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Shaw
Conference Carolinas – Anderson (South Carolina)
East Coast Conference – Concordia (New York)
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference – Rockhurst
Gulf South Conference – Valdosta State
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association – Washburn
Northeast-10 Conference – Stonehill
Peach Belt Conference – Armstrong Atlantic State
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Metropolitan State
South Atlantic Conference – Mars Hill
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Morehouse
Sunshine State Conference – Barry
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – West Virginia Wesleyan

In the final of the 2008 championships, Armstrong Atlantic State University defeated Barry, 5-0.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy NCAA.com

Both DII Tennis titles go to Armstrong Atlantic

admin — Sun, 18 May 2008 03:37:00 +0000

Undefeated all-season long, top-ranked for the last three months – the Armstrong Atlantic State men’s tennis team is the 2008 NCAA Division II Champion for now and forever.

The Pirates clinched the first men’s tennis national championship in school history with a 5-0 victory over No. 5-ranked Barry at the Memorial Park Tennis Center in Houston, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.

The win also gives Armstrong Atlantic State a rare double, winning the men’s and women’s tennis crowns in the same season for the first time since BYU-Hawaii accomplished the feat in 2003.

A pivotal tiebreak point at No. 1 doubles provided the momentum to carry the Armstrong Atlantic State women’s tennis team to their fourth NCAA Division II National Championship with Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Lynn University at the Memorial Park Tennis Center in Houston, Texas.

With two doubles wins already in hand, the third-ranked duo of Iuliia Stupak and Gabriella Kovacs played an hour and 30 minutes at No. 1 doubles against the fourth-ranked duo of Victoria Weltz and Alexandra Schunk. The duo had three match points at 8-7, but Lynn’s duo held serve, forcing a tiebreaker. On the fifth match point, Stupak blasted a cross-court overhand smash for a winner, giving AASU the 8-6 tiebreak win, a 9-7 match win and a commanding 3-0 lead after doubles.

–Courtesy AASU Sports Information

DII Spring Festival Update

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:22:00 +0000

Action is underway in Houston, Texas as NCAA Division II celebrates the success of several spring sports by determining the D2 National Champions in men’s/women’s golf, men’s/women’s tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse. Opening Ceremonies were held at Houston’s Downtown Aquarium with losing ceremonies will be held May 17th at the Discovery Green Park. Rice University is hosting the event in conjunction with the NCAA and the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority.

Tennis action has produced two Elite Eight fields that are competing for a spot in the semi-finals. On the women’s side, the defending champion BYU-Hawaii is top ranked and undefeated and will face #15 West Florida. Other teams also vying for the title are #2 Armstrong Atlantic State, #3 Lynn, #4 Valdosta State, #9 Francis Marion, #10 Barry, and #16 Hawaii-Pacific.

In men’s action, top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State faces defending champion Lynn (#6), while 2006 Champion (#2) Valdosta State takes on #4 Drury. West Florida (#3) battles #10 Hawaii-Pacific and #5 Barry faces #19 Francis Marion.

The Elite Eight in D2 Softball is also underway in a double elimination tournament. The field includes #3 Barry, #5 Humboldt State, #10 CW Post, Ferris State (RV), Francis Marion (RV), St. Edwards, Lock Haven and Emporia State.

The Elite Eight of women’s golf is in its second day of action where it appears the title is becoming a battle of two Sunshine State Conference foes with #2 Nova Southeastern leading #1 Rollins. GLIAC foes Ferris State (#8) and Grand Valley State (#7) sit in third and fourth, respectively. On the men’s side, a field of twenty teams are in day two of action as #22 Clayton State led after day one and #1 West Florida found itself needing a big comeback already 19 strokes off the lead.

BYU-Hawaii Creates Dynasty in D2 Women’s Tennis

admin — Mon, 14 May 2007 02:28:00 +0000

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII has continued their dynasty by taking their second consecutive NCAA Division II women’s tennis title, which is their seventh in nine years of NCAA competion. Since joining NCAA’s Division II from the NAIA, BYU-Hawaii has a record of 293-2. The 5-0 win over fourth-ranked West Florida was their 60th consecutive victory as they wrapped up a perfect 33-0. Coach Dave Porter praised his team and pointed out that none of their top six players lost a singles match all year. In his fifteen years of leading the team his record is 444-13 (.972) and has nine national titles (2 NAIA, 7 NCAA). The Seasiders participate in the Pacific West Conference and have 24 National Titles (14 NAIA, 11 NCAA).

Singles competition
#2 Yuliya Ustyuzhanina, BYUH/#5 Suzanna Cavalcante, UWF 6-2, 4-3 DNC
#3 Jing Jing Liu, BYUH/#15 Tammy Kevey, UWF 6-4, 4-0 DNC
#4 Dori Magas, BYUH def. #45 Mandy Septoe, UWF 7-5, 6-3
#19 Maggie Deng, BYUH/#38 Renatta Mattos, UWF 6-2, 5-2 DNC
#28 Anna Anikanova, BYUH def. Paola Arevalo, UWF 6-1, 6-4
#39 Ramona Husaru, BYUH/Anne Claire Beard, UWF 4-6, 0-1 DNC

Doubles competition
#2 Liu/Deng, BYUH def. #4 Kevey/Septoe, UWF def. 8-1
#5 Ustyuzhanina/Magas, BYUH def. #15 Cavalcante/Arevalo, UWF 8-4
Anikanova/Husaru, BYUH def. Mattos/Beard, UWF 8-5

Match Notes:

BYU-Hawaii 33-0; National ranking #1
West Florida 23-7; National ranking #4

Fighting Knights are D2 Tennis Champs

admin — Sun, 13 May 2007 23:50:00 +0000

LYNN UNIVERSITY CAPTURES the Division II Men’s Tennis title defeating the defending champion Valdosta State. In a rematch of last year’s title game, the Fighting Knight breezed through doubles play and didn’t look back as they cruised to a 5-1 victory. This is the first national title for Lynn men’s tennis, yet is the 19th national title (8 NCAA, 11 NAIA) in 20 years for the university and the seventh (Women’s team 3 NCAA, 3 NAIA) for Coach Mike Perez. Coach Perez was named Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for the first time in his career as this season produced a program record 24 wins allowing him to reach his 600th coaching victory.

#6 Lynn University 5, #5 Valdosta St. 1
05/12/07 at Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Singles competition
1. Lorenzo Cava (LUM)/Joerg Ekkenga (VSU) 7-6 (7-0), 5-2, unf.
2. Julien Carsuzaa (LUM)/Mickael Andreo (VSU) 6-4, 5-5, unf.
3. Dennis Riegraf (LUM) def. Thomas Provost (VSU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Denis Reinert (LUM)/Leos Jelinek (VSU) 4-6, 6-2, 2-1, unf.
5. Tomas Racak (LUM) def. Nikolas Overkemping (VSU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Dominik Hansen (VSU) def. Axel Joachim (LUM) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. L. Cava/J. Carsuzaa (LUM) def. D. Hansen/L. Jelinek (VSU) 8-6
2. D. Reinert/D. Riegraf (LUM) def. J. Ekkenga/N. Overkemping (VSU) 8-4
3. T. Racak/A. Joachim (LUM) def. M. Andreo/T. Provost (VSU) 9-7

Match Notes:

Valdosta St. 20-6; National ranking #5
Lynn University 24-4; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,3)