(Portions of this story courtesy of Trinity and Southwestern Sports Information Departments)
DALLAS, Texas -- The Tiger men's tennis team eliminated Southwestern University from the NCAA Playoffs with a 5-1 win in Sunday's Third Round match.
Trinity advances and will make its first appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals since 2015, but it will be the 18th time the program has been one of the final eight teams standing in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Head Coach Russell McMindes has now led the team to the quarterfinals six times in his 12 seasons.
The Tigers improve to 16-7 this season, including a 14-0 record against D-III teams. Southwestern drops to 15-3 overall and all three losses came at the hands of Trinity. The teams met once in regular season that ended in a 7-2 win over the Tigers, then met again in the finals of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. Trinity won that meeting 5-2 to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Just as they did in the SCAC Championship match, Christian Settles and Hao Nguyen were the first point on the board with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. The Tiger duo led 4-0 and 6-1, winning the final two games to finish things off.
Wilson Hamilton and Alessio Azzalini won their second match of the season as doubles partners to put Trinity up 2-0 at the time. They took an early 2-0 lead, then increased that margin to 6-2. After Southwestern took a game to make it 6-3, the Tiger teammates wrapped things up with two straight games to win it.
Southwestern's team of juniors, Hunter Bajoit and Vesko Lekovic, continued to be a steady force against Trinity, defeating Jordan Pitts and Cameron Krimbill 8-6 to avoid the doubles sweep and pick up their third win over the Tigers to improve to 16-1 as a duo this season.
Nguyen, the No. 11-ranked singles player in the West Region, opened singles competition with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lekovic. Hamilton followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Esteban Rodero, putting Southwestern on the brink of elimination. Krimbill, the top-ranked singles player in the region, clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Bajoit in No. 1 singles.
Southwestern ends its season with a 15-3 record, including a 1-1 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Trinity will now take on Case Western Reserve (OH) University in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Monday, May 24, at 3:30 p.m. (CDT). The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
