Tiger tennis team nearly repeats as champs, finishes as national runner-up

Nip and tuck with Tyler Junior College for the top spot in the standings entering Friday's final day of play at the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis National Championships held in Plano, TX., the defending national champion Cowley College tennis team had its hopes of repeating as champions dashed as the Apaches slipped past the Tigers by just a few points to claim the title.

Cowley sophomore Reiya Komagata, the defending national champion at No. 5 singles, became a two-time singles national champion by defeating Barton's Gabriel Garay 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

After dropping the first set of his title match at No. 6 singles, fellow sophomore Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez led 5-1 in set two before Tyler's Daniel Borisov rallied to take the title, 6-1, 7-6(4).

Tiger freshman Tadeo Gaggiofotto led Tyler's Faiz Nasyam 5-3 in the opening set of No. 5 singles before Nasyam rallied to take the title by scores of 7-5 and 6-0.

With semifinal doubles' action pushed back to Friday because of rain on Thursday,

All three of Cowley's doubles teams went on to win semifinal matches to advance to the finals. With just one hour of rest, the doubles teams were back on the court.

With the Tiger's No. 2 doubles team of Valentin Greco and Pedro de la Riva's loss to Tyler in the finals, the Apaches claimed another national title in its prestigious history.

Cowley's other doubles teams continued to battle as the Tigers' No. 3 doubles tandem of Omar Suarez and Alejandro Gonzalez battled back from first-set losses in both the semifinals and finals to capture the national title.

Cowley's No. 1 doubles team of Bruno Nhavene and Komagata, who will go down among the top tennis players in the history of the program, gave everything they had to force a third-set super tiebreak before losing 11-9 in the title match to a duo from Iowa Central.

This is the third time in four years that Cowley has finished as the national runner-up, except for last year's title-winning team.

First-year head coach Arianna Raga and her assistant Brady Mathews did a tremendous job leading the Tiger men to a national runner-up finish and the Lady Tigers to their first-ever national championship.

Results:

DOUBLES

*No. 1 – Bruno Nhavene/Reiya Komagata (CC) defeated Gonzalo Cotter/Vicente Faria (Mississippi Gulf Coast) 6-2, 6-1 in the second round; won by injury default over Alexi Khamrotau/Simeon Latinchev (Pratt) in the quarterfinals; defeated Samuel Antwa/Cam Atlanis (Seward) 7-6(5), 6-4 in the semifinals; lost to Amen Prince Gandonou/Hod Abalo Isik Padio (Iowa Central) 4-6, 7-6(9), 0-1(9) in the finals.

*No. 2 – Valentin Greco/Pedro De la Riva (CC) defeated Edoardo Brustia/Franco Vedda (Jacksonville) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round; defeated Guy Dagan/Seth Seeley (Collin), 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals; defeated Nick Devivo/Collin Tavares (Eastern Florida State) 7-6(4), 6-3 in the semifinals; lost to Doni Gashi/Dan Persson (Tyler) 4-6, 2-6 in the finals.

*No. 3 – Omar Suarez/Sergio Alejandro Gonzalez (CC) defeated Aaron Gerald/Martin Puetate (Harford) 6-1, 6-2 in the second round; defeated Tadeo Missan/Mariano Orsini Rodriguez (Iowa Central) in the quarterfinals; defeated Samer El Tori/Calvin Golmer (Tyler) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0(7) in the semifinals; defeated Alexandr Achour/Tomas Quesada Perez (Eastern Florida State) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0(8) in the finals.

SINGLES

*No. 1 – Nhavene (CC) defeated Hod'Abalo Isak Padio (Iowa Central) 6-3, 7-6(2) in the second round; defeated Minjae Kim (Collin) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals; lost to Juan Carlos Garcia (Tyler) 2-6, 2-6 in the semifinals.

*No. 2 – Komagata (CC) defeated Charlie Brady (Jones College) 6-2, 6-0 in the second round; won by injury default over Simeon Latinchev (Pratt) in the quarterfinals; defeated Samer Al Tori (Tyler) 6-1, 7-6(3) in the semifinals; defeated Gabriel Garay (Barton) 6-3, 6-0 in the national title match.

*No. 3 – Suarez (CC) defeated Francisco Miguel (Copiah-Lincoln) 6-0, 6-2 in the second round; defeated Nick Devivo (Eastern Florida State) 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals; lost to Nick Devivo (Eastern Florida State) 4-6, 2-6 in the semifinals.

*No. 4 – De la Riva (CC) defeated Jack Morris (Coastal Alabama) 6-0, 6-1 in the second round; defeated Jose Castillo (Collin) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals; lost to Dan Persson (Tyler) 3-6, 3-6 in the semifinals.

*No. 5 – Tadeo Gaggiofatto (CC) defeated Kyle Goodman (College of Lake County) 6-2, 6-0 in the second round; defeated Ognjen Gajic (Seward) 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals; defeated Jett Leong (Eastern Florida State) 7-6(4), 6-2 in the semifinals; lost to Faiz Nasyam (Tyler) 5-7, 0-6 in the national title match.

*No. 6 – Alejandro Gonzalez (CC) defeated Alex Holder (Jones College) 6-2, 6-2 in the second round; defeated Benjamin Ranby (ABAC) 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals; Defeated Enrique Doidan Sisa (Collin) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0(8) in the semifinals; lost to Daniel Borisov (Tyler) 1-6, 6-7(4) in the national title match.