Oakland City Men's Tennis Wins Third Championship

Evansville, IN- Oakland City Men's Tennis wins their third in a row after two sweeps over Brescia and Midway. In the River States Conference tournament, six teams traveled to Evansville, IN to compete to claim a spot at the National Tournament in Mobile, AL. 

The first matches on court were IU Southeast against Brescia, and Midway battling IU East. IU Southeast was able to pull off the upset doubles point as they took an early lead with wins at line two and three doubles. The team of Own Law and Doran Martin pulled off a huge 7-5 win at line two, while Miguel Sampaio and Eric Whitehouse clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 (8-6) win at line three. As they advanced into singles, the Bearcats pulled away quickly and were able to secure the win at lines 1, 2, 5, and 6 singles. This win set up a Bearcats and Mighty Oaks semifinal.

In the other quarter final, the Midway Eagles took care of business after dropping an unusual doubles point. The Eagles made an illegal substitution in their lineup which cost them the line two doubles; however, they were still able to pull out a win at line three. The doubles team of Sebastian Torrealba and Kyle Hollingsworth (IUE) was able to pull off a 7-5 victory to secure the doubles point for the Red Wolves. Singles were dominated by the Eagles as they won line one 6-0, 6-0, line two 6-1, 6-2, and lines four and five 6-0, 6-2 in both matches. This win set up the Eagles for a rematch with the Bears of Shawnee State.

In semifinal play it was the Bearcats against the top seeded Mighty Oaks and the two seeded Shawnee State Bears against the three seeded Midway Eagles.  In a rematch of a 4-2 Shawnee State win over the Eagles, the Eagles started off hot by claiming a tough doubles point. After the teams split the three doubles, Midway was able to pull away with the point by claiming the line two doubles spot with a 6-3 win. The match became very tight as they moved into singles. Abubakar Yakubu Lea dominated the line one singles spot with a 6-0, 6-3 win which leveled the match at 1-1. Shortly after that, Ivan Wularu (SSU) took down Aditya Roy (MU) with a 6-2, 6-3 finish giving the Bears the lead. With four matches left on court, the match was wide open. Down 1-2, the Eagles claimed two victories out of German Collado and Daniele Trentin giving them a 3-2 lead. With two matches left to play, Ishameal Dowuna (SSU) and Axel Sperling (MU) split sets and were heading into a third when Izan Casado (MU) finished the match with a third set victory to seal the deal for the Eagles. This victory sent them to back-to-back finals.  

In the other semifinal, the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City looked to return to the finals for the third straight year, and in dominating fashion, took down the Bearcats 4-0. Andres Perez Perez and Francisco Perez took down the team of Braedon Christie and Jose Marino 6-2, while Christian Salmeron and Juanes Pinto dominated Matthew Parson and Kostiantyne Zviahintsev (BU) 6-0. In singles play, Francisco Perez took down Parsons 6-0, 6-0, Juanes Pinto took down Zviahintsev 6-0, 6-0, and the match was clinched with Sebastian Bahamondes winning 6-1, 6-2 over Johnston.

For the second straight year it was a Mighty Oaks and Eagles finals match up. As they have done all year, the Mighty Oaks claimed their third straight RSC Title in dominating fashion. The doubles teams of Juanes Pinto and Christian Salmeron (OCU) took down Owen McCarter and Daniele Trenton (MU) 6-0, while Louki Nivarlet and Willem Cilliers (OCU) dominated Aditya Roy and Daniel Pinzon (MU) 6-1. As singles began, it was all Mighty Oaks. Winning at lines one, two, and four to clinch the match and conference title. Francisco Perez completed the tournament without dropping a game as he won 6-0, 6-0 again. Juanes Pinto won 6-1, 6-3 while Andres Perez Perez finished with a 6-1, 6-2 win and clinched the title for the Mighty Oaks.  

Champions of Character Team

First Team All-Conference

Second Team All-Conference

Third Team All-Conference

Scholar-Athletes