#16 Men's Tennis Wins HAAC Tourney
Topeka, KS - The #16 GU men's tennis team was in Topeka, Kansas this weekend competing in the HAAC Tournament hosted by Baker University.
The Jackets started off the tournament by defeating Saint Louis College of Pharmacy 5-0 and Baker University 5-0. Graceland then defeated Missouri Valley 5-2 in the final to punch their ticket to the National Tournament in Mobile, AL.
In the semis, Graceland swept the doubles and finished off Baker with straight set wins from number one Jose Daniele Razo Torres (JR/Mexico City, Mexico) and number five Felipe Suarez Parra (SR/Cali, Colombia).
In tournament style format the remaining competitions do not play to full completion once a team has secured the five individual results required for team victory.
So Graceland waltzed into the finals against Missouri Valley. The Yellowjackets won the regular season matchup by the score of 8-1. But the score line itself does not indicate how close the match truly was, as each set was tight and tense.
In the final, Graceland got off to the start that they were hoping for, a sweep of the doubles matches.
Number ones, Razo and Borja Perez (FR/Bilbao, Spain) and number threes, Danile Tarantinov and Suarez both cruised to 8-2 victories. The number two matchup would be a battle though, as Brezile Hamilton (SR/Nassau, Bahamas) and David James Parker (JR/Boise, ID) outlasted their opponent 9-8 (8-6).
Razo again made quick work in the number one singles contest, giving GU the commanding 4-0 lead.
But only one victory away from sealing their fourth consecutive conference championship, the Jackets would have to fight all the way to the end.
Singles victories for the Vikings in the four and five spot created some tension as two of the remaining three match ups were already into a third set.
Fortunately for GU, Lorenzo Panariti (FR/Milan, Italy) closed the deal with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory in sixth position.
The men's tennis team will now prepare for the National Tournament to be held on May 12-16 in Mobile, AL
Stay tuned to GUJackets.com for continuing coverage of the Graceland men's tennis team and for all Jacket athletics.