Eagles Best Northwood for Conference Crown
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The top-ranked Embry-Riddle men’s tennis team wrapped up its fifth consecutive Sun Conference Tournament title with a 5-1 defeat of No. 15 Northwood (11-5) in the 2013 Sun Conference championship match, Sunday at the Crotty Tennis Complex. The victory secured an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship in Mobile, Ala. and improved the Eagles’ overall record to 20-2 on the year.
The start of the match saw the Eagles go up on two of the three doubles courts before rain halted play for about 30 minutes. Once the action resumed, the Eagles registered identical 8-2 wins on courts two and three as Patrick Besch and J.R. Leonik downed David Cathalina and Nikita Borodatov at No. 2, and Simon Felix and Kevin Chaouat bested Jacob Alplund and Diego Ortega at No. 3.
At No. 1 doubles, Alvaro Ituriagga and Guilherme Azambuja upended top-ranked Deni Zmak and Chris Freeman 8-5 to make the team score 2-1 in favor of the Eagles heading into singles play.
The first singles match to reach completion was at No. 3 where Anthony Grasso quickly blanked Cathalina 6-0, 6-0 to put the Eagles up 3-1. The next match off the court was at No. 6 singles where David Spennare dispatched Ortega 6-1, 6-0.
The Eagles got the final point of the afternoon from Felix at No. 4 singles. The junior earned his 21st win over the year, downing Borodatov 6-0, 6-0 to seal the Eagle victory.