(Story taken from the Trinity University
website)
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It’s been a while,
but the Trinity Tigers men’s tennis team is once again the
champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The top-seeded Tigers beat the No. 2 DePauw Tigers 5-3 Sunday in
the championship match at Burns Park Tennis Center.
Trinity (16-9), ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III, last won the
title in 2006, with a 4-1 victory over DePauw. Since that time,
DePauw, ranked 16th nationally, had beaten the Tigers three
straight years in the final, including a 6-3 win in 2009. The
Trinity Tigers played in their 19th consecutive SCAC Championship
match, and won their 15th conference crown.
Sunday’s Trinity victory - the 12th in a row - also means the
Tigers have qualified for the NCAA regional tournament, to be held
May 14-16, at a site to be determined. A total of 42 squads will
compete in regionals throughout the nation, leading to the
NCAA Team Championship Tournament May 25-27 at Oberlin, Ohio. The
singles and doubles tournaments are slated for May 28-30. Trinity
is ranked No. 7 in the West Region, and is 12-4 against Division
III opponents. Bids for the team tournament will be announced May
10, and individuals May 12.
The Tigers began Sunday’s match by winning all three
doubles. Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal, ranked third in the
region, won No. 1 doubles with an 8-6 victory over Scott Sandager
and Will Gates. Max Frey and Erick DelaFuente captured No. 2
doubles, with an 8-4 over Hunter Schouweiler and Jonathan Batuello.
No. 3 doubles went to Ben Carroll and Don Murray, 8-1 winners over
Andrew Kahn and Michael Rardon.
DePauw won three of the five completed singles matches, but Trinity
had already built up its lead.
Frey, ranked fourth in the region, won No. 1 singles 6-4, 7-6 over
Sandager. The clincher for Trinity was at No. 4 singles, as Kowal
outfought Noah Swiler 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
DePauw’s Rardon beat Cocanougher 6-2, 7-6 at No. 2 singles,
and Gates was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Murray at No. 5. Kahn beat
Trinity’s Andrew Hoing 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
The No. 3 singles match between DelaFuente and Schouweiler did not
finish.
Trinity is led by first-year head coach Russell McMindes, a former
Tiger standout. He took over for longtime coach Butch Newman, now
Trinity’s director of tennis. Coach Newman led the Tiger men
and women to the 2000 NCAA Championships.
Trinity University vs DePauw University
4/25/2010 at North Little Rock, Ark.
#14 Trinity University 5, #16 DePauw University
3
Singles
competition
1. Max Frey (TRINITY) def. Scott
Sandager (DEPAUW) 6-4, 7-6
2. Michael Rarden (DEPAUW) def. Bobby
Cocanougher (TRINITY) 6-2, 7-6
3. Erick DelaFuente (TRINITY) vs. Hunter Schouweiler
(DEPAUW) DNF
4. Cory Kowal (TRINITY) def. Noah
Swiler (DEPAUW) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
5. Will Gates (DEPAUW) def. Don Murray (TRINITY)
6-4, 6-4
6. Andrew Kahn (DEPAUW) def. Don
Hoing (TRINITY) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
competition
1. Bobby Cocanougher/Cory Kowal (TRINITY) def. Scott
Sandager/Will Gates (DEPAUW) 8-6
2. Erick DelaFuente/Max Frey (TRINITY)
def. Jonathan Batuello/Hunter Schouweiler (DEPAUW) 8-4
3. Benjamin Carroll/Don Murray (TRINITY) def. Michael
Rarden/Andrew Kahn (DEPAUW) 8-1
In other matches on Sunday, Rhodes College defeated Oglethorpe
University, 8-1, in the third-place match; Sewanee defeated
Millsaps College, 7-2, in the fifth-place match, and Centre College
defeated Colorado College, 6-3, in the seventh-place match.
Hendrix College defeated Southwestern University, 7-2, on Saturday
to wrap up ninth place.
For complete match results, click here for the official website of the 2010 SCAC
Men's and Women's Tennis Championships.