BENTONVILLE, Ark. – After a marathon five-hour match in the Great American Conference Tournament semifinal, Southeastern saw its bid for sweeping the regular season and postseason conference titles come to an end after being upset by Ouachita Baptist 5-4 in Bentonville, Ark.
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 13-7 on the season and leaves the team waiting to learn of its potential NCAA tournament chances.
Top-seeded SE came into the event after sweeping the competition in the regular season, including a 6-3 road win over OBU earlier in the year.
The Storm looked solid on Friday after doubles play, bouncing back from a loss at number one to get a win from the duo of
Alberto Blesa and
Tiago Ferreira at number two, taking their match 9-8 (5) at number two, while
Nathan Nelmes and
Billy Haugen picked up an 8-4 win at number three.
The Tigers picked up wins at numbers one and two to take a 3-2 lead in the match, but
Martin Bedecarratz evened the match at 3-3 with a 6-1, 7-5 win at number five.
OBU regained the lead at 4-3 with a win at number three, but
Renato Joao answered with a 7-6, 8-6 (5) win at number six to again event he match.
In the final match Ferreira picked up a 6-4 win in the first set at number four, but dropped sets two and three by scored of 6-4 and 7-5 and the Storm would find themselves on the wrong end of the 5-4 score.
