MOBILE, Ala.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team made program history on Tuesday afternoon, earning AMU's first-ever win in the NAIA Men's Tennis Championships with a 4-1 victory over Cumberland University at the Mobile Tennis Center in Alabama. This group of Gyrenes became the first team at Ave Maria, in any sport, to win a national tournament game since the baseball team did it in Opening Round action in 2013.
AMU's victory came in come-from-behind fashion, as Cumberland took two straight doubles matches to earn the first point of the day. The Phoenix won matches at the second and third positions, as the duo of Adrijan Hrzic and Dan Slapnik Trost, as well as the team of Hughes N'Goma and Sacha Colomban, earned victories by 6-3 scores. The matchup at the top flight saw the Cumberland duo leading 5-4 at the time of the clinching of the doubles point by the Phoenix.
In singles action, the momentum swung hard in favor of the Gyrenes. It started with three straight set victories that gave AMU the lead. Sebastian Grijalva, Guilherme Bento, and Carlos Thireau all won in convincing fashion. Grijalva took a 6-2, 6-3 win at the fourth flight, while Bento defeated a Second Team All-Conference selection, 6-4, 6-2. Thireau won in a tiebreaker in the first set, but dominated in the second for a 7-6, 6-2 win.
The clinching point was provided by AMU's number three player, Fernando Orihuela. The junior college transfer from Argentina took the opening set of his match with Second Team All-Conference selection German Suarez at the third flight, 6-4, but saw his opponent even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the decisive third set, Orihuela controlled the action for a 6-3 win, drilling an ace on his final serve before being mobbed by his AMU teammates.
With the win, the Gyrenes became the only team in the entire field to win as the lower-seeded team - Ave Maria was the No. 17 seed, while Cumberland was seeded 16th. Ave Maria's win was part of a banner day from The Sun Conference - all three teams that played in the round of 32 advanced, giving the league four of the final 16 men's tennis teams standing in the nation.
Ave Maria's round of 16 opponent is the sport's ultimate Goliath - the Grizzlies of Georgia Gwinnett College. The number one seed and the number one team in the nation, Georgia Gwinnett has won seven consecutive national championships and has never lost a match in the NAIA Tournament. Ave Maria's attempt at the biggest upset in the history of the tournament is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. central time in Mobile.
