BRUNSWICK, Ga.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team competed for the second time in school history in The Sun Conference Championship on Thursday afternoon, playing in the conference tournament against the top-seeded Keiser University Seahawks at the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick, Georgia. Keiser claimed a 4-0 win over the Gyrenes to advance to Friday's conference finals.

In doubles play, Keiser won the matches at the second and third spots to clinch the match's opening point. The 17th-ranked team of Luke Simkiss and Fred Oervad earned a 6-3 win over Alejandro Viedma and Felipe Amorim, while Olivier Koeng and Riccardo Ferraris defeated AMU's team of Tom Alias and Adriel Bousquet, 6-1, at the number three position. 

The match at the number one spot between KU's second-ranked Toru Horie and Geronimo Barrios and AMU's Guilherme Bento and Carlos Thireau was abandoned when the Seahawks clinched the doubles point, with the Keiser duo holding a 5-3 lead.

Keiser clinched their spot in the tournament finals with three singles wins. The number one player in the nation, Simkiss, defeated Bento, 6-0, 6-1 at the number one spot, while national number 24 Oervad kncoked off Amorim, 6-2, 6-2. At the number six spot, Bart Nouws earned a 6-3, 6-0 win over Michael Myrtil. Three other singles matches remained unfinished when the Seahawks clinched the match. 

In all likelihood, Ave Maria's season comes to an end on Thursday, with the team in the postseason for just the second time in the history of the program. AMU's 8-6 season is the second-best record in school history, and the team's 4-3 record in The Sun Conference ties for the best mark in program history. Only one player from this lineup is expected to depart AMU, giving the Gyrenes major momentum heading into the 2022 season.