In dramatic fashion, the Lake Forest College men's tennis team defeated Grinnell College 4-3 in Friday's Midwest Conference Tournament final and earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history.
Sophomore
Joao Espindola played the role of hero twice during his four hours of match play in the contest. After sophomore
Felipe Moraes and junior
Rodrigo Cunha doubled up the Pioneers' top doubles team 6-3 and Grinnell came out on top at #2, Espindola and freshman
Tim Pasea spent another 20 minutes finishing off their 7-6 (8-6) triumph at #3 to secure the doubles point for the Foresters.
For Espindola, history did not take long to repeat itself. A 6-3, 7-5 victory by senior
George Ciuca at #3 singles and 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win by Moraes at #1 had Lake Forest on the verge of taking the match. However, the Pioneers were there as well after earning points at #2, #4, and #6. Espindola was already more than two hours into his #5 singles battle at that point and nearly an hour passed before he finally completed a 3-6, 6-3, 6-6 (7-5) tournament-clinching victory.
The win was the Foresters' first against Grinnell, the 19th-ranked team in the nation, since 2000 and ended the Pioneers' 203-match winning streak against league opponents.
Lake Forest reached the final by blanking Cornell College 4-0 Friday morning. Espindola earned the clinching point in that match as well with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at #3 singles. Cunha did not drop a game at #2 and freshman
Zeke Bisharat took both sets 6-1 at #4. The doubles point came from a quick 6-1 win by Ciuca and junior
Bernardo Aguiar at #2 and a 6-2 triumph by senior
Ian Villardi and junior
Daniel Fotiev at #3.
The Foresters are now 16-6 on the year while Cornell fell to 14-12 and Grinnell to 18-6.
In addition to the presentation of the MWC Tournament plaque and banner, the MWC Elite 20 Award was presented at the end of the tournament. For the second year in a row, that honor went to Villardi for owning the highest cumulative grade point of any member of the four teams at the event.
Lake Forest will begin its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday, May 8. A selection show to announce the bracket and locations for the first three rounds of the tournament will be available on NCAA.com on Monday, May 4, at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
