UNCW, Elon To Meet In CAA Men's Tennis Championship Match For Fifth Straight Year
Rob Washburn
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 18, 2026) – UNCW and Elon will meet in the finals of the CAA Men’s Tennis Championship for the fifth straight year after the top-seeded Seahawks battled past #5 Drexel, 4-3, and the second-seeded Phoenix defeated #6 William & Mary, 4-0, in semifinal action on Saturday at the Mackesy Tennis Center.
UNCW, which has won five straight league championships, and Elon will face off on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for the CAA title.
Drexel took an early 1-0 advantage after an exciting doubles competition. The Dragons’ No. 2 team of Antonio Franquis and Josue Guzman defeated Lukas Steffen and William Dean, 6-3, but the Seahawks quickly responded with a 6-3 win at No. 3 by Jordi Domenech and Tomas Marin over Lun Obrul and Anthony Moukarzel. The doubles point was decided at No. 1, where Drexel’s duo Tarek Erlewein and Will Burridge broke serve late to level the match and then never trailed in the tiebreaker to earn a 7-6 (7-3) victory over Alex de Gabriele and Brady Hussey.
The match stayed tight throughout singles. UNCW took the lead as Domenech rolled past Burridge, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3 and Steffen topped Erlewein, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1. Drexel pulled even on Court 4 when Obrul beat Oscar Bumgartner, 6-0, 6-4. The Seahawks regained the advantage when de Gabriele rallied past Guzman, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2, but the Dragons tied the match at 3-3 as Moukarzel downed Hussey, 7-5, 7-5 at No. 6. The match was decided in an epic clash on Court 5. Marin dropped the opening set to Franquis, 6-1 and trailed 5-4 in the second set before taking the final three games to win, 7-5. The deciding set went to a tiebreaker at 6-all, where Marin pulled it out, 7-4.
Elon used a dramatic comeback in doubles to gain early momentum. The Phoenix No. 2 team of Jack Curtis and Rafael Ymer downed Dylan Chou and Albert Hansen, 6-3. On Court 1, Elon’s Veljko Krstic and Nikola Parichkov trailed 5-1 to W&M’s Oliver Hague and Gur Trakhtenberg, but rallied to even the match at 6-6 and then secured the doubles point with a 7-2 win in the tiebreaker.
The Phoenix turned in a strong performance in singles to reach the finals for the fifth straight year. Krstic posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Trakhteberg at No. 1 and Charles Pilet followed with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Hansen at No. 6. Elon clinched the match at No. 2 when Ymer defeated Hague, 6-4, 6-3.
2026 CAA MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
MACKESY TENNIS CENTER – WILLIAMSBURG, VA
SEMIFINALS – APRIL 18
#1 UNCW 4, #5 Drexel 3
Singles
#1 Lukas Steffen (UNCW) d. Tarek Erlewein (DREX), 6-3, 6-4
#2 Alex de Gabriele (UNCW) d. Josue Guzman (DREX), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
#3 Jordi Domenech (UNCW) d. Will Burridge (DREX), 6-2, 6-1
#4 Lun Obrul (DREX) d. Oscar Baumgartner (UNCW), 6-0, 6-4
#5 Tomas Marin (UNCW) d. Antonio Franquis (DREX), 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4)
#6 Anthony Moukarzel (DREX) d. Brady Hussey (UNCW), 7-5, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2, 6, 5*
Doubles
#1 Erlewein/Burridge (DREX) d. de Gabriele/Brady Hussey (UNCW), 7-6 (3)
#2 Franquis/Guzman (DREX) d. Steffen/William Dean (UNCW), 6-3
#3 Domenech/Marin (UNCW) d. Obrul/Moukarzel (DREX), 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
#2 Elon 4, #6 William & Mary 0
Singles
#1 Veljko Krstic (EU) d. Gur Trakhtenberg (W&M), 6-1, 6-2
#2 Rafael Ymer (EU) d. Oliver Hague (W&M), 6-4, 6-3
#3 Jack Curtis (EU) vs. Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) – DNF, 6-4, 5-1
#4 Oskar Antinheimo (EU) vs. Austin Cohen (W&M) – DNF, 6-4, 3-2
#5 Nikola Parichkov (EU) vs. Dylan Chou (W&M) – DNF, 3-6, 6-2, 3-3
#6 Charles Pilet (EU) d. Albert Hansen (W&M), 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 2*
Doubles
#1 Krstic/Parichkov (EU) d. Trakhtenberg/Hague (W&M), 7-6 (2)
#2 Ymer/Curtis (EU) d. Chou/Hansen (W&M), 6-3
#3 Antinheimo/Nick Fisk (EU) vs. Bortnichek/Theo Nilsson (W&M) – DNF, 6-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1*