BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern Oklahoma State and Ouachita Baptist, two of the top four teams in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region rankings earned spots into the GAC Men’s Tennis Championship final as both scored convincing victories on Friday at Memorial Park. The Savage Storm defeated Harding 6-0 while the Tigers beat East Central, 5-1.
The Tigers secured their fourth consecutive trip to the finals by opening with a sweep the three doubles matches. Marko Boskovic and Vitor Oliveira, the No. 2 doubles in the Central Region scored an 8-3 win against ECU’s Marc Fillat/Alex Fillat to improve to 15-2 as a unit this year. Maceij Braciszewicz and Jason Mechali opened the contest by defeating Max DeJuan and Adria Abella, 8-4. Lennart Lonnemann and Andre Stefano won at No. 3, 8-4.
Up 3-0, the Tigers moved to within a point of the win when All-GAC selection Marko Boskovic won the No. 1 slot, 6-3, 6-3 against Marc Fillat. Stefan Schodlbauer provided the Tigers with their lone point, a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 6 singles position. OBU’s Lennart Lonnemann clinched the match when won his showdown against Max DeJuan 6-4, 6-0.
Southeastern Oklahoma State 6, Harding 0 || Ouachita Baptist 5, East Central 1
In the other semifinal, the Savage Storm advanced to the GAC title game for the time in the four-year history of the league by dispatching of Harding 6-0, due to a simultaneous final in two singles matches.
Southeastern’s Petar Popovic and Paul Nguyen opened the contest by notching an 8-2 victory against Adrian Torrico and Neto Cacace at the No. 3 position. GAC Player of the Year Maxim Fil and All-GAC selection Tiago Ferreira followed with a matching 8-2 win against Felipe Carbonari and Brandon Hogland. Alberto Blesa and Jack Gibbens completed the sweep of the doubles matches by outlasting the Bisons’ Josh Hurt and Carlos Crisostomo, 9-7.
In singles play, Joaquin Aguilera dispatched of Neto Cacace, 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 6 slot for the fourth point of the match. Two matches, Petar Popovic at No. 5 and Blesa at No. 2 finished simultaneously to finish off the 6-0 victory. Popovic defeated Hogland, 6-2, 6-1 and Blesa bested Torrico, 6-1, 6-1.
The Tigers and Savage Storm has met once before in GAC Championship play. Last April the Tigers, as the No. 4 seed, upset the top-seeded Savage Storm, 5-4. During the 2015 season, the Savage Storm won a 7-2 decision in Durant, Oklahoma on April 3.