Top 20 Moments - Men's Tennis

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #20
April 30, 2001
For the first time in NCAA history, schools from the same conference are selected to host the Men’s and Women’s Division III Tennis Championships. DePauw University plays host to the men’s field and Trinity University welcomes the women’s field. The team championships are slated for May 18-20, 2001 and the individual championships – singles and doubles – are scheduled for May 21-23, 2001.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #19
May 7, 2006
For just the second time in league history and first since 2000, the SCAC sends two men's teams to the national quarterfinal round. DePauw University improved to 21-6 and advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals following a 5-2 win over 13th-ranked Kalamazoo (Mich.) College. It marked the third Division III quarterfinal appearance for DePauw with the other trips coming in 1990 and 2000. Trinity University defeated Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) University, 4-0, in San Antonio to advance to the national quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive year. The following week, the two would both lose 4-0 to Emory (Ga.) University and Middlebury (Vt.) College, respectively, in the national quarterfinals.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #18
May 22, 2005
Senior Jim Shaughnessy of Trinity University, the 2005 SCAC Men's Tennis Player-of-the-Year, advances to the semifinals of the 2005 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Individual tournament before losing to eventual national champion Matt Seeberger of Santa Cruz, 6-2, 6-1.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #17
May 7, 2005
After his eighth-ranked team is upended by 23rd-ranked Kenyon (Ohio) College in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division III Men's Tournament, DePauw University head coach Tom Cath is named the ITA/Wilson Division III Men’s Coach-of-the-Year – the second time he received the honor in his 20-year career and the first time since the Tigers joined the SCAC.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #16
May 20, 1996
After advancing to the national quarterfinals with a 4-3 victory over Washington (Md.) College in the South Region sub-region finals, the Trinity University men’s tennis team loses to University of Redlands (Calif.), 4-2, in the fifth-place match at the 1996 NCAA Division III Championships at Emory (Ga.) University. The sixth-place finish ties the 1993 Trinity team for the highest SCAC men's tennis finish at the national championships (later bested).

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #15
May 2-4, 2003
For the second consecutive year, the SCAC has four men's teams qualify for the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships. DePauw University is defeated in the first round by Washington (Mo.) University, 6-1. Rhodes College defeats Sewanee-The University of the South, 5-2, in the first round, but drops a 7-0 decision to host Emory (Ga.) University in the sub-region finals. The ninth-ranked Trinity University men advanced to the national quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the 2003 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis West Region second round in San Antonio. Tiger sophomore Nick Kaloudis won, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 over Adam Fuhriman at No. 6 singles to close out the match for Trinity. The Tigers would fall the following week to Emory (Ga.) University (6-1) in the national quarterfinals played in St. Peters, Minn.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #14
April 24, 2005
With the match knotted at 3-3, the 2005 SCAC Men’s Tennis Championship at Burns Park Tennis Center in North Little Rock, Ark., came down to one singles match. Trinity University’s Oliver Gaines knocked off DePauw University’s Jeff Zanchelli at No. 5 singles in three sets – all of which went to a tiebreaker – and the TU Tigers earned their 12th consecutive SCAC men’s tennis championship and 13th overall.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #13
May 22, 1994
Trinity University places eighth nationally at the 1994 NCAA Division III Men's Championships held at Redlands, Calif., losing to Emory (Ga.) University, 5-3, in the seventh-place match. Afterwards, Trinity head coach Butch Newman is named the ITA/Wilson Division III Men's Tennis Coach-of-the-Year.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #12
May 9-11, 2002
With the selections of DePauw University, Rhodes College, Sewanee-The University of the South and Trinity University, the SCAC places four men’s teams into the field for the 2002 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament - a league-high for tournament participants in a single year. Rhodes defeated Sewanee, 4-1, in opening round play at the Atlantic South Regional, but was defeated in the region finals by Emory (Ga.) University the following day (7-0). In first round Great Lakes Region play, Washington (Mo.) University defeated DePauw 4-1. After receiving a first-round bye, Trinity defeated Linfield (Ore.) College, 4-3, in the West Region finals to earn the program’s seventh appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals. In that quarterfinal round the following week, however, the Tigers were defeated 4-0 by Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) College.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #11
May 13-14, 2000
DePauw University and Trinity University both advance to the 2000 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis national quarterfinals - a feat that was later duplicated in 2006 and 2007 by the two tennis powerhouses. DePauw defeated Denison (Ohio) University, 6-1, in the first round of the 2000 Midwest Region and then dispatched Kalamazoo (Mich.) College with a thrilling 4-3 win the following day. In the South Region sub-region final, fourth-ranked Trinity blanked host University of Mary Washington (Va.), 7-0, to advance to the quarterfinals.

In that historic national quarterfinal matchup of SCAC schools the following week, Trinity's men defeated DePauw, 4-0, in a match played indoors due to inclement weather.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #10
May 10, 1993
At the 1993 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament, hosted by Kalamazoo (Mich.) College, Trinity University and Sewanee-The University of the South place sixth and ninth respectively, giving the SCAC two Top 10 national finishes in the same year and sport for the first time in conference history (equaled by women's tennis the same year). Trinity lost 5-2 to the University of California-San Diego in the fifth-place match, while Sewanee defeated Swarthmore 5-2 in the ninth-place match. Following the Championships, Sewanee freshman K.C. Horne was named the ITA’s Rookie-of-the-Year. Horne finished his career as the most decorated men's tennis player in Sewanee history, earning all-America honors all four years on the Mountain.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #9
May 30, 2010
The Trinity University men’s doubles tennis team of Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal lose a tightly played (6-3, 6-4) decision to the University of California-Santa Cruz’s Brian Pybas and Marc Vartabedian in the championship match of the 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships doubles competition. Earlier in the day, Cocanougher and Kowal upset the top-seeded Middlebury team of Andrew Lee and Andrew Thomson, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinals. It marks the third time a Trinity men's team has made it to a national doubles final.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #8
May 21-23, 2001
The doubles team of Sloan Rush and Ed Rahn of Trinity University almost provided the Tigers with another national championship in tennis, but came up just short, falling 6-2, 6-3 to Derek Fitzpatrick and Nick Cunningham of the University of California-Santa Cruz in the finals of the 2001 NCAA Division III Men’s Doubles competition.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #7
May 22-24, 2000
Following his team's title run, Trinity University sophomore Sloan Rush, the SCAC Men's Tennis Player-of-the-Year, came within one win of giving the Tigers and the SCAC another national championship, but Carnegie Mellon’s Kayvon Fatahalian put an end to those thoughts with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Rush in the final of the 2000 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Singles competition.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #6
May 23, 1995
After helping Trinity University to an eighth-place finish in the team competition, the doubles team of Brian Bethea and Jamie Saben make it all the way to the 1995 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Doubles Championship match, but lose to Todd Born and John Weston of the University of Redlands (Calif.), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. The runner-up finish represents the best-ever finish for a SCAC men's doubles team at the Championshps (since equaled).

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #5
May 19, 1999
Trinity University finishes fourth in the nation after dropping the third place match against University of California-Santa Cruz, 6-1. The Tigers had lost the day before to Kalamazoo (Mich.) College, 4-3, in the national semifinals. The fourth place finish represented, at that time, the highest-ever finish for a SCAC men's tennis team at the national championships. For the second time in his career, Trinity head coach Butch Newman is recognized as the ITA/Wilson Division III National Men's Tennis Coach-of-the-Year.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #4
May 20, 2000
After defeating conference foe DePauw University, 4-0, in the national quarterfinals, Trinity University took on the nation's top-ranked team, the University of California-Santa Cruz, in the semifinal round at Kalamazoo (Mich.) College.

Playing for revenge, as well as a trip to the national title match, Trinity looked to reverse last year's decision as UC-Santa Cruz had eliminated the Tigers in the same semifinal round in 1999. In a match that proved to be one of the more exciting of the year, Trinity, after falling behind 0-2, rallied to give themselves a shot at the national title with a 4-3 win over the Banana Slugs. With the overall match tied at 3-3, senior Jeevan Ramakrishnan won the final point to send the Tigers to the finals.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #3
April 25, 2010
Playing in its 19th SCAC men’s tennis championship match, top-seeded Trinity University beats second-seeded DePauw University, 5-3, to claim its 15th SCAC championship - the most team championships in any men's sport in the SCAC era. The championship, which earns the Tigers' the league’s automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship, also marks the first championship since 2006 for Trinity.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #2
April 29, 2007
With the match tied, 4-4, DePauw University number four singles player Bryan Heck battles to a three-set win that lifts the eighth-ranked Tigers to a 5-4 win over seventh-ranked Trinity University in the championship match of the 2007 SCAC Men's Tennis Championship played in Waco, Texas. Not only does the win provide the school with its first-ever SCAC men’s tennis title, but it also snaps a four-year losing streak by DePauw to Trinity in the finals and ends Trinity’s 13-year stranglehold as conference men’s tennis champions.

MEN'S TENNIS - MOMENT #1
May 21, 2000
Playing in the national title match of the 2000 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships on the campus of Kalamazoo, Mich., fourth-ranked Trinity University defeats Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) College, 4-3, to earn the program its first-ever NCAA Division III men's team title.

After rallying to tie the match at three points apiece, Trinity’s Ed Rahn remained on the court, needing a win at No. 4 singles to give the Tigers the title. After dropping the first set, the junior rallied to win his individual match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and the celebration was on.

Trinity became the first school in Division III history to win the men’s and women’s tennis championships in the same year as the Trinity women knocked off the University of California-San Diego.

For more on the top SCAC Men's Tennis moment, including interviews with former Trinity head coach Butch Newman (pictured above left) and former Tiger all-American and a member of that 2000 national championship team, Jeff Mueller, click here.