Tiger tennis team to play for first national title since 1991
Winning all six singles matches, and three doubles matches Thursday at the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis National Championships held in McKinney, TX, the Cowley College Tigers will have an all-Cowley vs. Tyler Junior College finals when play resumes Friday at 8 a.m. at the Courts of McKinney Tennis Center.
Both Cowley and Tyler have yet to lose a singles or doubles player from the tournament.
The Tigers breezed through singles play without dropping a set in Thursday's quarterfinal matches before being pushed in No. 2 doubles. Sophomores Hanamichi Carvajal and Taiyo Hirano suffered a 7-6 loss in their opening set against Eastern Florida State College's Jack Dixon and Colin Tavares before bouncing back with a vengeance while winning the following two sets 6-2, 6-0.
"Every day at nationals, you have to perform a bit better, and the guys did just that today," Cowley head coach Manuel Raga said. "Overall, it was a great performance by everyone in both singles and doubles."
The finals will feature the top two teams in the rankings, as the Tigers are ranked first, and Tyler is ranked second. The teams met back on March 14 when Cowley slipped past the Apaches 5-4 in the match played in Tyler, TX.
Cowley will be attempting to win its first national title since 1991, while Tyler Junior College will be trying to win its 15th national title and first since 2019.
"We will use this time to focus 100 percent on recovery," Raga said.
The Tigers have finished as the national runner-up each of the past two seasons and will be in search of its first-ever NJCAA Division I title, as its previous two championships (1989 and 1991) came at the Division II level.
Results:
DOUBLES
*No. 1 – Bruno Nhavene/Takeshi Taco (CC) defeated Sam Miyata/Brandon Telle-Marty (Paradise Valley) 6-0, 6-2; defeated Hugo Blasco/Lennert Lemahieu (Wallace State) 6-3, 6-2; defeated Aymen Alimoussa/Safar Rasulov (ABAC) 6-1, 6-2.
*No. 2 – Hanamichi Carvajal/Taiyo Hirano (CC) defeated Guido Loayza/James Wassell (Coastal Alabama) 6-1, 6-1; defeated Barnabas Kalaba/Prince Tsiang (Barton) 6-4, 7-6; defeated Jack Dixon/Colin Tavares (E. Florida State College) 6-7, 6-2, 6-0.
*No. 3 –Boruch Skierkier/Reiya Komagata (CC) defeated Macarthur Swain/Ian Williams (Jacksonville) 6-1, 6-1; defeated Gustavo Campos/Marno Duplessis (Barton) 6-1, 6-0; defeated Gianni Lopez/Joseph Restrepo (Collin) 6-2, 6-2.
SINGLES
*No. 1 – Taco (CC) defeated Tomas Nader (Jones College) 6-2, 6-4; defeated Seth Seeley (Collin) 6-0, 6-3; defeated Safar Rasulov (ABAC) 6-3, 6-1.
*No. 2 – Skierkier (CC) defeated Franco Vedda (Jacksonville) 6-1, 6-2; defeated Lennert Lemahieu (Wallace State) 6-1, 6-0' defeated Lucas Gonzalez (E. Florida State College) 6-1, 6-0.
*No. 3 – Nhavene (CC) defeated Franco Toscano (Paradise Valley) 6-4, 6-1; defeated Prince Gandonou (Iowa Central) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; defeated Luke Tinnock (ABAC) 6-2, 6-3.
*No. 4 - Carvajal (CC) defeated Jacob Runnels (Hinds) 6-0, 6-0; defeated Joseph Restrepo (Collin) 6-3, 6-4; defeated Andrew Kunaka (Iowa Central) 6-1, retired;
*No. 5 – Komagata (CC) defeated Tanner Bevard (Jones College) 6-1, 6-2; defeated Alex Ballinger (Pratt) 6-2, 6-1; defeated Gianni Lopez (Collin) 6-1, 6-0.
*No. 6 – Hirano (CC) defeated Nick Scroppo (Prairie State) 6-0, 6-0; defeated Jesse Faro (Harford) 6-3, 6-2; defeated Nafarilo Outtara (Iowa Central) 7-5, 6-3.