Posted on: Tuesday, May 14, 2002
BYUH sweeps tennis titles
Advertiser Staff
Brigham Young University-Hawai'i made history yesterday, becoming the first NCAA Division II school to win both the men's and women's tennis championships in the same year.
The Seasider women (29-0) overpowered second-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.), 5-1, in the NCAA II National Championship in Kansas City, Mo. This marked their third national title in four years at the Division II level. (BYUH also won two NAIA titles.)
Later yesterday the top-ranked men (29-1) fended off No. 2 Drury (Mo.), 5-4, to win the program's first national title.
Despite thundershowers the night before, conditions — blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s — were ideal for the championship matches, which lured more than 200 fans.
The Seasider women jumped to a 2-1 lead entering singles play, which they then dominated.
"We were just fortunate to have the best women's team in Division II this year," said BYUH head coach David Porter, who became only the second coach in NCAA history to lead both a men's and women's team to national titles. "We just had an unusual group of girls that were just a little bit better than everyone else."
While the Drury team relaxed before the title match, the Seasider men watched the women's matches, something Porter thought might have affected their game.
And it almost did.
To the delight of the pro-Drury crowd, the BYUH men faltered in doubles play, with the team's top two pairs losing in tie-breakers. Drury boosted its lead to 3-1 after beating Peter Madarassy in singles play, but the Seasiders tied it 3-3 with quick wins by top-ranked Jan Krejci and Hong Tae Kim.
BYUH's Andrew Makarevich lost his singles match, but teammate Hung Soon Park survived a tiebreaker to tie the score. That left it to an injured Daouda Ndiaye to win the match and, ultimately, the title. And he came through by defeating Akos Tajta, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
The BYUH players ran around the court, hugging teammates and basking in the win.
"It was just 10 minutes of utter emotion and excitement," Porter said. "It was a year-long dream come true."
