ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – For the first time in over two decades the UIndy men's tennis team is crowned Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament champions, having defeated rival Southern Indiana, 5-2, in Sunday's title match at the Jack Oremus Tennis Complex at Lewis University.

From 1979 to 1995 the Greyhound men brought home seven titles, but suffered a 21-year drought that included consecutive runner-up finishes over the past two seasons. But that all changed Sunday, when, for the second time in eight days, the 21st-ranked Hounds (17-2) topped the 39th-ranked Screaming Eagles (17-5) in a highly-contested battle between two of the GLVC's and Midwest Region's best.

The doubles portion of the title bout mirrored last Saturday's regular season finale – which UIndy won, 5-4 – as the Crimson and Grey picked up a two of three to gain an early advantage.

The Screaming Eagles put up Sunday's first point, as Aaron Barris and James Hardiman defeated UIndy's Luke Hubert and Marco Razo, 8-1, in No. 3 doubles.

UIndy bounced back when Christoph Drechsler and Magnus Mueller won seven games in a row en route to an 8-4 victory in No. 2 doubles over Joel Stern and Jack Joyce.

Court one featured a back-and-forth contest between two regionally-ranked duos. UIndy's Arklon Huertas del Pino and Andrea Morlet jumped out to a 6-2 lead before USI's Samuel Kiladejo and Paul Forichon rallied to pull within 7-6. In the end, the Greyhound pair held on to win, 8-6, giving UIndy its 2-1 edge heading into singles.

As he did eight days ago, Huertas del Pino defeated Kiladejo in a matchup of regionally-ranked singles competitors, 6-1, 6-2, giving the Hounds a 3-1 lead. The UIndy junior and All-GLVC honoree improved to 26-3 in his stellar first season with the Hounds, moving just two wins shy of tying the program's single-season singles wins record.

Shortly after, Mueller bested Stern 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to put UIndy on the brink of victory. It was Mueller's second singles win of the tournament, and 14th for his rookie season.

The Screaming Eagles pulled a step closer with Joyce's 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles, but it would be the last point of the tournament for the East's two-seed.

At No. 3 singles, Hubert and Hardiman were locked in another heated battle with the GLVC title on the line. Last weekend, the USI freshman Hardiman spoiled Hubert's Senior Day by winning 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) to hand Hubert his first loss of the spring dual match season.

Sunday, the pair split the opening two sets yet again to force a decisive third set. After falling behind by a couple of games early on, Hardiman stormed back to tie the set, 4-4. But Hubert responded by taking a 5-4 lead, and later, with Hardiman serving to stay alive, finally avenged the Senior Day defeat by clinching the GLVC Championship. Just one point from defeat, Hardiman failed to land a successful serve, sparking a celebration among Hubert and his Greyhound teammates.

UIndy is now tied with Bellarmine for most GLVC Men's Tennis Championships with eight overall. The Greyhounds now have ten total conference titles, including pre-GLVC wins in 1955 and 1960.

Is it the second conference championship for UIndy Head Coach Malik Tabet, who won last season with the Greyhound women's program. By virtue of Sunday's victory, Tabet claims GLVC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.

The Greyhounds will now await their NCAA Tournament seeding, which will be revealed in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Selection Show this upcoming Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can tune in to the show at NCAA.com. UIndy will assuredly claim the top seed in the Midwest Region, meaning it will play host in the regional portion of the tournament.