Seasiders defend national tennis championships
Advertiser Staff
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The second-ranked BYUH men edged No. 11 Hawai'i Pacific, 5-4, while the top-ranked BYUH women defeated No. 3 Barry (Fla.), 5-3.
It was the second Division II national title for the men's team and sixth championship in seven years for the women's team. The Lady Seasiders won NAIA titles in 1997 and 1998 and Division II championships in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
BYUH is the only Division II school to win back-to-back men's and women's tennis championships.
"This is great for the school," said BYUH sophomore Jan Krejci, the top-ranked player in the country. "I hope everyone is proud."
The men's championship match lasted 4 1/2 hours and came down to the top singles match between Krejci and HPU's Mikael Maatta.
With the team score tied 4-4, Krejci defeated Maatta, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to secure the Seasiders' 5-4 victory.
"Every time I played (Maatta), it's so close," Krejci said. "In the nationals last year, I lost against him. I felt good during the tournament, so I was pretty confident. But you still never know what's going to happen, especially here in Orlando where it was very hot. Everyone got dehydrated and everyone got tired."
The Seasiders led 2-1 after three doubles matches and appeared to have the momentum going into the six singles matches, coach Dave Porter said.
"Hawai'i Pacific had been so dominating throughout the tournament by not having lost a doubles match," Porter said. "So when we picked up two (doubles wins), that really helped in getting the points and also helped mentally."
Hawai'i Pacific's Jan Tribler knocked off Daouda Ndiaye at No. 5 singles to tie the score 2-2. BYUH regained a 4-2 lead with victories by Peter Madarassy at No. 2 singles and Hong-Tae Kim at No. 4.
But Hawai'i Pacific rallied with wins by Gabor Jaross at No. 3 singles and Sasa Pirc at No. 6 to tie the score at 4, setting the stage for Krejci's clinching victory.
"I'm proud of our guys," said HPU coach Henry Somerville, who stayed in Hawai'i to care for his pregnant wife, Rowena. "They peaked at the right time. They played great tennis and they played their hearts out against BYUH, who is the best team in the nation."
The BYUH men finished their season with a 30-1 record; it's lone loss was to West Florida March 31. Hawai'i Pacific finished 19-4 after defeating No. 4 North Florida, No. 3 Drury (Mo.) and No. 1 West Florida in the tournament.
It was HPU's third runner-up finish in four years at the NCAA Division II Championship. The Sea Warriors lost to BYUH in the quarterfinals last season.
"It's heart-wrenching for the team to come so close," Somerville said. "Hawai'i should be very proud of their tennis because they have the two best teams in the nation in BYUH and HPU."
In the women's final, the Seasiders took a 2-1 lead after doubles play and received wins from the top-ranked player in the country, Adrienn Hegedus, at No. 1 singles, Gurianna Korinihona at No. 6 singles and Judy Weng at No. 2 singles.
Weng defeated Cornelia Grunes, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, to clinch the title. It was an emotional victory for Weng, who continued to play solid tennis despite the death of her father two months ago.
"I want to cry because this was very tough," Weng said. "This year, our women's team was not as good as last year. Everyone was training so hard and we had a lot of pressure. We knew BYUH has a lot of history about always winning championships. I was just thinking I don't want to lose because I play for BYUH."
BYUH finished the season with a 37-0 record. The Seasiders have won 66 straight and 169 of their past 170 matches. Their loss was to Lynn (Fla.) in the 2001 title match.
Yesterday's matches were played under a "heat rule," which means if the temperature is more than 90 degrees at the beginning of the match, players are allowed a 10-minute break between the second and third sets, instead of the normal two-minute break. Porter said the temperature before the men's match reached 94 degrees with 89-percent humidity.
