SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Armstrong Atlantic State University women’s tennis team claimed its NCAA Division II-leading eighth national championship with a 5-2 win over No. 3 BYU Hawaii on Saturday at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Center.
The second-ranked Pirates (30-1) successfully defended their 2012 title by knocking off the Seasiders (30-2), who they also downed in last season’s final. The two DII women’s tennis powerhouses came into the championship match holding seven national titles apiece, and it was the seventh time in each program’s history that the two titans had met in the championship match.
Armstrong took a 2-1 lead in doubles play by taking the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. The fifth-ranked duo of Marlen Hacke and Olga Kalodzitsa downed ninth-ranked Marika Kobayashi and Marietta Tuionetoa 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. Armstrong’s Clara Perez and Natasa Vukovic defeated Jade Griffin and Sasha Ulbrichtova 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.
The top-ranked doubles duo of Annie Hwang and Sherry Liu claimed BYU Hawaii’s doubles point with an 8-6 win over second-ranked Aleksandra Filipovski and Barbora Krtickova at No. 1 singles.
“Doubles was the same numbers as last year,” Armstrong coach Simon Earnshaw said about the win today. “But it was not really the same because No. 2 doubles made a much better start than last year. We came out this morning and completely changed what we had done all year at No. 3 doubles — switching from playing doubles to playing to our strength in singles, and we made a great start, and it was enough to get us through.”
BYU Hawaii put the pressure on in singles play by taking the first set in five of six singles matches. The Seasiders drew even in the match as No. 2 Hwang defeated No. 3 Filipovski 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
Armstrong quickly went back in front when No. 13 Krtickova finished off Kobayashi 6-2, 7-6 (1) at No. 3 singles.
Vukovic brought the Pirates to within one point of victory with an 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Jade Griffin at No. 6 singles.
No. 17 Hacke beat Tuionetoa, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to clinch the victory — similar to the 2012 match when the Pirates also won at No. 4 singles to claim the title.
Armstrong has won five of the last six NCAA Division II national titles, collecting the crowns in 1995, ’96, ’05, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’12 and this season.
“Today’s matches and this tournament are a reflection of what we are doing with our program,” Earnshaw said. “We keep fighting and never give up. We push their limits — and certainly these last few days with the draws that we have, that was the case and responded extremely well. In the circumstances, I feel like we won both matches (men’s and women’s). No matter the outcome, it shows we are doing the right things and our kids are invested in the program and the university.”
The Armstrong men’s and women’s tennis teams are scheduled to return to Savannah at 5:22 p.m. today at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport
MEN
BARRY 5, ARMSTRONG 4
The top-ranked Barry University men’s tennis team withstood a furious comeback in singles to defeat No. 2 Armstrong and capture the NCAA Division II men’s tennis national championship.
The Bucs (29-0) won their second national title, while handing the defending national champion Pirates (27-2) their first loss in a national final. Barry also captured the 2010 title and improves to 2-5 all-time in national title matches.
Barry led 3-0 after doubles play. The Bucs’ first point came quickly at No. 3 doubles as Romain Costamagna and Leo Vivas beat Jaan Kononov and Matus Mydla, 8-1.
At No. 1 doubles, the second-ranked duo of Marko Mokrzycki and Fabian Groetsch outlasted top-ranked Dan Regan and Georgi Rumenov 9-8 (1) in a tiebreaker to take the second doubles point. At No. 2 doubles, Armstrong’s fifth-ranked Sven Lalic and Pedro Scocuglia also went to a tiebreaker against the No. 19 Ollie Lemaitre and Max Wimmer. Despite three match points by the Pirates in the tiebreaker, Barry claimed the win with a 9-8 (6) .
In singles play, the Pirates took the first set in five of six singles matches to open up an opportunity to climb back into the match. No. 11 Regan claimed a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 23 Fabian Groetsch at No. 3 singles.
Costamagna defeated Lalic 6-2, 6-4, but Armstrong notched a 6-3, 6-4 win by Pablo Gor over Lemaitre at No. 6 singles.
Fifth-ranked Matus Mydla picked up a 7-6 (2), 6-1 win at No. 1 singles over Barry’s Marko Mokrzycki, then No. 1 Georgi Rumenov earned a 7-6 (6), 6-2 win over No. 26 Max Wimmer to set up a winner-take all match at No. 5 singles.
No. 29 Scocuglia led Vivas, 6-3, 4-1, but Vivas stormed back to win five straight games to split sets at 6-3, 4-6. Again Scocuglia raced out to a 4-1 lead, but Vivas fought back to 4-4 and eventually won eight straight points to close out the victory.