KERRVILLE, Texas -- Top-seeded and eighth-ranked Trinity University rebounded from a slow start, using the momentum of a come-from-behind sweep in doubles, to earn its 12th straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Tennis title with a 5-0 victory over 23rd-ranked Southwestern University Sunday afternoon at the Cree Tennis Center on the campus of Schreiner University. Official Website | Postmatch Interview | Photo Album
No program has won more conference titles than Trinity as Sunday's victory represented the 26th SCAC championship for the Tiger men's tennis program. Since 1992, Trinity has won all but four SCAC men's tennis titles.
The nation's second-ranked doubles team got the Tigers off to a quick start as Christian Settles and Hao Nguyen defeated Southwestern's No. 1 line of Vesko Lekovic and Hemanshu Rambojun, 8-2. However, both No. 2 and No. 3 teams fell behind early, trailing by three games at one point with Wilson Hamilton and Cameron Goldstein down 6-3 and Cameron Krimbill and Alessio Azzalini trailing 5-2. Both pairs worked their way into just one-game margins, though Trinity had its back against the wall as both remaining doubles bouts saw 7-6 advantages for the Pirates. Just moments later, both matches were headed to a tiebreaker where the Tigers came out on top for a doubles sweep that seemed improbable just 20 minutes earlier. Krimbill and Azzalini's 7-4 breaker score sealed the sweep just-after a 7-5 mark from Hamilton and Goldstein in line two.
Taking the momentum of the come-from-behind 3-0 margin following doubles, the Tigers found two singles points fairly quickly as Settles defeated Anton Borovik at the No. 4 line, 6-2, 6-0, and Eric Liao clinched the match at No. 6, defeating the Pirates' Travis Rafferty, 6-1, 6-2 to give Trinity the match and the conference crown. Three of the four remaining singles matches held advantages for Trinity when the rackets dropped.
As conference champion, Trinity (15-8) earns the SCAC's automatic qualification for the NCAA III National Championship tournament, and will await further instruction from the NCAA for regional competition. The 2022 NCAA III tournament's final site will be the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, with dual match competition opening the week on May 23. Southwestern falls to 15-7 and will have to await word of an at-large berth when the bracket is announced a week from tomorrow.
#8 TRINITY UNIVERSITY 5, #23 SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 0
May 1, 2022 at Kerrville, Texas (George & Frances Cree Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #7 Cameron Krimbill (TU) vs. #25 Hunter Bajoit (SU) 6-2, 5-5, unfinished |
| 2. #29 Hao Nguyen (TU) vs. Steven Tibbetts (SU) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished |
| 3. #30 Alessio Azzalini (TU) vs. Vesko Lekovic (SU) 6-4, 4-1, unfinished |
| 4. #40 Christian Settles (TU) def. Anton Borovik (SU) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 5. Wilson Hamilton (TU) vs. Oscar Roy (SU) 6-1, 4-2, unfinished |
| 6. Eric Liao (TU) def. Travis Rafferty (SU) 6-1, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #2 Christian Settles/Hao Nguyen (TU) def. Vesko Lekovic/Hemanshu Rambojun (SU) 8-2 |
| 2. Wilson Hamilton/Cameron Goldstein (TU) def. Hunter Bajoit/Steven Tibbetts (SU) 8-7 (7-5) |
| 3. Cameron Krimbill/Alessio Azzalini (TU) def. Oscar Roy/Carlos Rodero (SU) 8-7 (7-4) |
| Match Notes |
| Southwestern University 15-7; National ranking #23; Regional ranking #6 |
| Trinity University 15-6; National ranking #8; Regional ranking #2 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,6) |
| T-2:15 A-184 |
UP NEXT
The NCAA will announce team selections May 9, and the first three rounds will be played May 12-15. The team quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship, along with the singles and doubles tournament, are set for May 23-29 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando,
