Middle Tennessee men’s tennis (22-8) defeated Liberty University (14-11) in the Conference USA finals, 4-2, securing it’s seventh straight conference title.
With a 4-0 sweep in the semifinal round over the University of Delaware and a 4-2 win over the Flames, the Blue Raiders finished their domination of CUSA for the seventh straight season while clinching another trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Raiders could not clinch the doubles point on championship Sunday, with one court going to a tiebreaker. Ondrej Horak and Antoine Mayoral picked up a 6-4 win over Liberty’s Guy Vorwerk and Rodrigo Santiago Arraez. Karim Al-Amin and Birtan Duran fell 7-5 to Chase Robinson and Siwanat Auytayakul, evening the doubles courts at one a piece.
Crivei and Dziopak dropped 7-6 to Benjamin Sparks and David Ekpenyong, securing the doubles point for the Flames.
“It’s the first doubles point we’ve lost in Conference USA play since 2018, I told the boys that singles was our jam this year,” MTSU head coach Jimmy Borendame said. “I knew the upper class men would stay calm and collected.”
Following the end of doubles play, Middle Tennessee changed the lineup, moving into singles, as Freddy Murray was subbed out for Santiago Lora.
“I was worried about Freddy, yesterday he fell and hurt his wrist pretty good,” Borendame said.
Dziopak defeated Carl Roothman 6-3, 6-1, securing the first singles point for the Blue Raiders. Lora fell to Robinson 7-5, 6-0, as the Flames retook the lead two courts to one. Quickly following was Duran, defeating Santiago Arraez 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, tying the courts at two apiece. Al-Amin then took down Sparks 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, giving the Blue Raiders a 3-2 lead.
Horak defeated Auytayakul 7-5, 6-3, to secure the win for the Blue Raiders and their seventh straight Conference USA Championship.
The final three courts all clinched within minutes of each other for MTSU.
With the championship win, the Blue Raiders clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Middle Tennessee awaits the Tuesday bracket release to see who they will face. The regional round is set for Friday, May 1, in Athens, Georgia.
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