Kohler, Wis. - For the third consecutive season, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Tennis Championship match came down to Illinois Tech and MSOE doing battle. MSOE won the title match in 2023 while Illinois Tech took the crown in 2024. In a Sunday morning/early afternoon battle that went down to the wire, it was the Scarlet Hawks who retained their conference title, defeating the Raiders 4-3 after
Eduardo Lopez defeated MSOE's Augusto Yamazaki 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 in the number five singles match to give Illinois Tech the fourth match point needed for victory.
For the Scarlet Hawks, it was their fifth NACC tournament championship over the last six seasons. With that, the Hawks claimed the automatic conference bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Hawks will await their bracket assignment on Monday morning, with first-round play to take place on either Thursday, May 8th or Friday, May 9th at a location and an opponent to be determined.
"We had a rough start in doubles," said Head Coach
Kris Powell. "But we knew if we could focus in singles and play really tough early that we could get the win. Everyone stepped up and played with heart and dealt with pressure in a very mature way. I couldn't ask for more."
The Scarlet Hawks found themselves in a 1-0 hole after doubles play was completed. The number one doubles team of
Alexander Feher and
Avneet Singh was blanked by MSOE's Andres Saavedra and Joe Chong, 6-0. The Hawks briefly tied up doubles competition 1-1 when
Hozumi Tada and
Pedro Caroa-Accino Roca won their number two doubles match against Miguel Lopez and Clark Rue, 6-3. But MSOE's Carlos Patino and Carlos Lopez won the number three doubles match against
Pol Dueso Guell and
Eduardo Lopez, 6-4, giving MSOE a 1-0 match lead heading into singles play.
MSOE extended their match lead to 2-0 when Carlos Lopez defeated Singh 6-2, 6-4 in the first singles match to complete, the number six. The Scarlet Hawks would go on to make their move, winning the next three singles matches to complete to take a 3-2 match lead. Tada started the Hawks' streak with his 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 victory over Rue in the number four singles. Roca followed next with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 win over Saavedra in the number one singles match. Feher capped off the Illinois Tech run in singles play with a 6-4, 7-5 win in the number two singles match. But MSOE would respond with a comeback victory in the number three singles match, with Miguel Lopez defeating Guell 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to tie the match at 3-3.
That left the result of the number five singles match between the Hawks'
Eduardo Lopez and the Raiders' Augusto Yamazaki to determine the match winner. Lopez won the first set in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (7-5). Yamazaki won the second set 6-4, setting up a third and deciding set. After an early deficit, Lopez came back to win set three 6-4, giving the Scarlet Hawks the 4-3 match victory, and the conference championship.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will wait to find out their opponent and site location after the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Selection Show at 11:30am CT. First-round play will begin either Thursday, May 8th or Friday, May 9th.
