SE Guts Out GAC Championship with 5-4 Win

Men's Tennis | 4/23/2016 6:56:00 PM

BENTOPNVILLE, Ark. – After posting back-to-back regular season conference championships No. 24 Southeastern finally broke through in the post season with a 5-4 win over rival No. 38 East Central to collect its first ever Great American Conference postseason championship on Saturday afternoon in Bentonville, Ark.
 
The win lifted the Savage Storm to 15-2 overall on the year and helps bolster the resume of the fifth-ranked team in the Central Region as they will wait out the time until May 3 to find out if they have earned an at large bid to the regional tournament.
 
It also stretches the team's winning streak to seven matches to end the year.
 
SE got a huge boost by sweeping doubles play and that started with Maksim Fil and Tiago Ferreira pulling out an 8-4 win at the number one position.
 
Petar Popovic and Mislav Colak followed up with an 8-3 win at three doubles for the 2-0 lead.
 
Netanel Alcabas and Alberto Blesa pulled off an 8-5 win at number two to polish off the sweep and take a 3-0 lead into singles play.
 
Unfortunately, ECU has the first answer in singles play with a win at number four to close to 3-1.
 
Ferreira fought back with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Albert Lapiedra at number six to push the match to 4-1 and leave the Storm just one point shy.
 
However, that point was hard to come by as the Tigers would knot the match at 4-4 after sweeping the top three singles spots, taking the one and two position in three set matches in which they had to come from behind.
 
The match boiled down to the five position where Colak picked up a first set 6-2 win over Marc Lerch, but dropped the second set 6-3 to head to a third and decisive set.  In that set it was Colak who would pull out a 7-5 victory to clinch the GAC title for the Storm.
 
#24 Southeastern 5, #38 East Central 4
 
Singles competition
1. Sergio Espias (ECU) def. #45 Maksim Fil (SEOSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. Alex Fillat (ECU) def. Netanel Alcabas (SEOSU) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
3. Adria Abella (ECU) def. Alberto Blesa (SEOSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Erik Eldagsen (ECU) def. Jack Gibbens (SEOSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Mislav Colak (SEOSU) def. Marc Lerch (ECU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
6. Tiago Ferreira (SEOSU) def. Albert Lapiedra (ECU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. Maksim Fil/Tiago Ferreira (SEOSU) def. Adria Abella/Albert Lapiedra (ECU) 8-4
2. Netanel Alcabas/Alberto Blesa (SEOSU) def. Erik Eldagsen/Sergio Espias (ECU) 8-5
3. Petar Popovic/Mislav Colak (SEOSU) def. Stefan Schodlbauer/Alex Fillat (ECU) 8-3
 
Match Notes:
East Central 9-11, 1-3 GAC; National ranking #38; Regional ranking #8
Southeastern 14-2, 3-1 GAC; National ranking #24; Regional ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,6,3,1,2,5)
Rankings are in the ITA...SE wins the 2016 GAC Tournament Championship
SE ranked No. 5 in NCAA Central Regional standings