UNCW Captures Third Straight CAA Men's Tennis Championship
Rob Washburn
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 30, 2023) – Top-seeded UNCW captured its third consecutive CAA Men’s Tennis Championship, defeating #3 Elon, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of William & Mary.
The Seahawks (17-7) are the first team to win three straight CAA titles since VCU tallied nine in a row from 1996-2004. It’s the ninth championship for UNCW in the past 14 years under head coach Mait DuBois and earns the Seahawks an automatic berth in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship.
Elon, which was making its third finals appearance in the past four tournaments, finished the season with a 15-9 mark.
UNCW jumped out to a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. The Seahawks’ No. 3 duo of Gabe Hurtado and Bekhzod Rasamatov rolled over Ben Zipay and Nick Condos, 6-1, before UNCW’s No. 2 tandem of Reece Falck and Alex De Gabriele got past Oskar Antinheimo and Veljko Krstic, 6-4.
The Seahawks continued their momentum in singles. Rasamatov topped Condos, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 4 and Harold Huens held off Nicholas Campbell, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 2 to push the UNCW advantage to 3-0. Elon got on the board at No. 1 when Daniel Martin defeated Falck, 7-6 (5), 6-2. The Seahawks closed out the match in a three-set battle on Court 6. UNCW’s Trey Mallory took the first set from Ben Zipay in a tiebreaker, dropped the second, and then won six of the final seven games in the third for a 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-2 victory.
The two remaining contests in the tightly contested match were also in the third set when play was halted.
UNCW will find out its first round NCAA Championship opponent during the selection show on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
#1 UNCW 4, #3 Elon 1
Singles
#1 Daniel Martin (EU) d. Reece Falck (UNCW), 7-6 (5), 6-2
#2 Harold Huens (UNCW) d. Nicholas Campbell (EU), 6-0, 6-4
#3 Gabriel Hurtado (UNCW) vs. Veljko Krstic (EU) – DNF, 3-6, 6-1, 3-3
#4 Bekhzod Rasamatov (UNCW) d. Nick Condos (EU), 6-4, 6-3
#5 Davide Innocenti (UNCW) vs. Oskar Antinheimo (EU) – DNF, 6-2, 3-6, 1-2
#6 Trey Mallory (UNCW) d. Ben Zipay (EU), 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 6*
Doubles
#1 Mallory/Andrew Broadstreet (UNCW) vs. Martin/Campbell (EU) – DNF, 4-5
#2 Falck/Alex de Gabriele (UNCW) d. Antinheimo/Krstic (EU), 6-4
#3 Hurtado/Rasamatov (UNCW) d. Zipay/Condos (EU), 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2*