ST. LOUIS – UIndy men's tennis claimed back-to-back Great Lakes Valley Conference championships Monday, defeating Drury 5-0 in the title match at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.
It is the league-best ninth championship in program history, and marks the first consecutive titles for the Greyhounds since they won five in a row from 1991-95. Following the women's title earlier in the day, UIndy captured both tennis championships for the fifth time ever (1988-89, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1993-94).
This year's match featured two top-20 programs, and was a rematch from the 2014 and 2015 championships. Drury (18-3) won both of those meetings, but UIndy (15-4) answered the bell Monday in St. Louis, completing a 5-0 sweep of all its opponents in the GLVC Championship Tournament.
The Hounds leapt out to a sizeable 3-0 doubles lead and never looked back.
UIndy's No. 2 pair of junior
Christoph Drechsler and sophomore
Magnus Mueller handled Drury's Sacha Mourier and Nico Sigloch rather quickly, 8-3, for the first point of the afternoon.
At No. 1, two of the nation's and region's best duos squared off, but it was the Hounds' senior
Arklon Huertas del Pino and junior
Andrea Morlet prevailing over Drury's Maximilian Hepp and Sebastien Amato, 8-6.
The Hounds claimed a major advantage after senior
Marco Razo and junior
Nils Hoffacker won a hard-fought No. 3 contest, 9-7, against Nico Hadeler and Paul Porcher.
Mueller again wasted little time at No. 4 singles, defeating Porcher 6-0, 6-1 to put UIndy a point from victory.
At No. 1, the 2017 GLVC Player of the Year, Huertas del Pino, met Hepp, the 2016 award winner. UIndy's senior won the nationally-ranked meeting by an impressive 6-0, 6-1 score, good for his fifth win of the season against a top-50 player.
His win lifted UIndy past Drury, and, by virtue of the GLVC Championship, signaled GLVC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year honors for
Malik Tabet for the second consecutive season.
The Greyhounds will now await their draw in the NCAA Tournament. UIndy – which was ranked third in the most recent Regional Rankings – will learn its fate Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET during the selection show. Fans can tune in
here.