GREENWOOD, IN – In the Midwest Regional sub-finals, the No. 13 UIndy men's tennis team defeated No. 34 Grand Valley 4-1. The winning effort cements their spot in the NCAA DII Men's Tennis Championship in Surprise, Ariz.
This will be their eleventh consecutive season advancing to the National Championship Tournament. Today's comeback victory also makes it 12 straight wins for the Greyhounds.
INS AND OUTS
The Lakers were on the board first after taking doubles on courts #2 and #3. Denys Zamaraiev and Andreu Martin downed Lorenzo Di Cursi and Jovan Matovic 6-2 on court #3 to pencil the first result. Stephen Claassen and Lawrence Ivanov secured the opening point with a 6-3 win over Zaid Shelbaya and Tadeo Gaggiofatto on court #2.
The Hounds quickly struck back in singles at court #1, where No. 22 Asier Ayllon Prado breezed past Bora Bakici.
Moments later, Gaggiofatto turned in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Zamaraiev on court #2 to give UIndy their first lead.
Derache found the next result for the Hounds, outpacing Axel Le Ho in a 7-5, 6-4 victory at #3 singles, giving UIndy a 3-1 lead.
The match would come down to courts #4, #5, and #6, where Di Cursi, Matovic, and Vladislav Gorbatenko all forced third sets after facing first-set deficits.
Within the dreadlock, Matovic found himself down 4-5 in the third set, where Jorge Ruiz was on serve. With his back against the wall, Matovic extended the match to 5-5 after forcing a break in a point where he fell, got back up, and forced a key error from Ruiz. The freshman dished a gritty service hold to go up 6-5, giving him momentum to break Ruiz's serve once again, winning the third set 7-5 to seal the victory for UIndy.
UP NEXT
UIndy will make their return to the NCAA DII Championship in Surprise, Ariz. They await to see who they will face in their first match on Wednesday, May 20.
