MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — They needed all six singles pairings to decide a winner, but the Ave Maria Men's Tennis team got a dramatic win in their regular season finale as they beat the St. Thomas Bobcats 4-3. The win clinches a spot in the Sun Conference Tournament for the Gyrenes.
St. Thomas got the early point in the doubles round with wins in the first and second pairings. The second pairing was the first to finish with a 6-1 win. The Gyrenes tied the round up with a win in the third pairing. Juan Garcia and Pedro Garcia teamed up for their sixth win as a duo and won 7-5.
The doubles round came down to the top pairing, but St. Thomas pulled it out with a 6-4 win.
In the singles round, St. Thomas won the first pairing to finish, putting the Bobcats up 2-0. That put the Gyrenes in a tight spot as they would have to win four of the next five singles pairings to win the match.
Pedro Garcia got the Gyrenes started on that track with a dominant win in the second pairing. The sophomore only lost one game in his two sets, winning 6-1, 6-0.
Gianmarco Punzo tied the match at two with a win in the fourth pairing. Punzo got his fifth win of the season and second in conference play, taking the pairing 6-4, 6-3.
The Bobcats won the next pairing to finish, putting the Gyrenes' backs up against the wall.
Both of the final pairings needed a third set to decide a winner. To make things even more dramatic, Danil Mishchanin went to a tiebreaker game in the third set to decide his pairing. Mishchanin fell in the first set 6-4 but battled back in the second set to win 7-5. In the third set, he and the Bobcat each won six games to force the tiebreaker. Mishchanin fought off four match points before finally winning 11-9 to clinch the point. It is Mishchanin's second win of the season and first win in conference play.
Tied at three, all eyes turned to the top pairing of the match. Anderson Duggan won a tight first set 7-5 but then dropped the second set 6-7. Knowing the match was down to him, Duggan turned on the heat and won the third set in dominant fashion, 6-1. That gave the Gyrenes their fourth point of the match and clinched the win.
With the win, Ave Maria finishes the regular season 7-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The win clinches their spot in the Sun Conference Tournament over the Bobcats. Ave Maria will play in the 4v5 matchup of the quarterfinals against the Coastal Georgia Mariners, who also finished the conference season with a record of 3-4. The Mariners won the regular season meeting against the Gyrenes 4-2 on March 21. The tournament is set to start April 23 in Brunswick, Georgia.
