Charleston, W.Va.-- West Virginia Wesleyan won the Mountain East Conference Men's Tennis championship Sunday with a 5-3 decision over the University of Charleston. The Bobcats took a 2-1 lead after doubles, and then rode dominating singles wins from Jacobo Rendon and Nathan Savill to the edge of victory before Joel Izquierdo closed out the match with a 6-4 7-5 win at the #1 spot.
Izquierdo, Savill, and Rendon each contributed two points on the day for the 'Cats, who had lost to the Golden Eagles just two weeks ago by a 6-3 score. Savill and Izquierdo both dropped their singles in that match, yet turned it around against the tournament's top seed on their home courts.
Head coach Marc Walters was caught off guard by the results of the singles, in light of the way things broke for the Bobcats in the teams' first dual on April 4th.
"Tough environment, good crowd, and alot of adversity," Walters noted about the scene at Charleston's Shonebaum Courts. "Coming in I really just hoped we could get dug in and not let them run away from us like they did in the last match. Our guys hung in there and gave themselves a chance to play deep."
"It was the grinding type of day we expected, and yet I was surprised at our guys' focus and ability to adjust mid-match, " Walters said. "Nathan and Tim (Stephens) got beat up pretty bad last time, and they have been spending practice time working on some stuff that they hoped would help against these guys.I was really impressed at how they both used it today."
The day started with tense battles on all three doubles courts, with #1 Izquierdo and Aitor Reparaz staying on serve throughout their match with All- MEC team James Gammel and Dennis Okoth. In the 13th game, Wesleyan (15-4, 8-1 MEC) took advantage of an unforced error and a winning return that just fell inside the line of the racquet of Reparaz to fashion the only break of the match. Izquierdo served out the win and the 'Cats led 1-0.
#3 Doubles saw UC's Jake Lorenz and Nick Bakos forge a 6-3 lead over Rendon and Savill, before the Bobcat tandem roared back to take the final five games and the match, 8-6.
That left only #2 doubles to finish their match, which was the closest battle of the three.
UC (12-5, 9-1 MEC) was serving for the match at 7-6 behind Davey Nelson and MEC Player of the Year Matt Sherba, Wesleyan's Andre Fernandes and Jose Titonel managed to get a break opportunity at 30-40 on Nelson's serve. Nelson made a great low volley off a Fernandes return to save the break, and the Golden Eagle pair finsihed it off with consecutive winners from Sherba.
"The level at #1 and #2 was really high and sustained, and we had the chances we wanted,' said Walters, who team won 8 or 9 doubles matches on the weekend. "Andre and Jose battled and played their best match of the year, but that's a solid team and they did what good teams do, which is make clutch shots."
Rendon opened the singles with a dominating 6-0 6-1 win over Lorenz at the 4 spot, while Nelson countered for UC by trouncing Fernandes 6-3 6-0 at the 6 position. Charleston gained a 3-3 tie when Gammel closed out a pesky Reparaz at #2 by a 6-1 6-4 score. That would leave Sherba and Izquierdo, Stephens and Okoth, and Savill and Bakos to decide the day.
Savill was relentless as he mixed up pace and depth, keeping Bakos at bay on the way to a 6-3 6-2 win at #5. Moments later, Izquierdo served out his match on Sherba with a final booming serve, and Wesleyan had the title.
Stephens, who had just fought back to split sets with Okoth, did not finish as the Bobcats reached the clinching 5th point.
"I am very proud of what these guys have done for each other and with their own games this spring," said Walters of his charges. "We are young and evolving as a team, but this weekend was a giant step forward for what we are trying to work towards and our goals."
The 'Cats are off until May 3-5th when the NCAA Regional tournament will be played, most likely back at Charleston due to the lack of facilities at Wesleyan. The NCAA will announce the field on Wednesday, April 23rd at 4pm. The Bobcats are in line for a top seed in their regional.
