By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sunday will feature a familiar sight for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the second-seeded Golden Eagles powered their way to a 4-0 victory over No. 3 Tennessee State in Saturday's semifinal to push the purple and gold to another appearance in the championship match.
By virtue of top-seeded Belmont's 4-0 triumph over No. 5 Eastern Illinois, Tech will clash with the Bruins in Sunday's championship showdown pitting the league's top two against each other with a spot in the NCAA Tournament at stake. The Golden Eagles will be making their sixth-consecutive appearance in the OVC title match.
TTU overwhelmed the Tigers (6-20) during singles play behind convincing straight-set nods in all three completed bouts. Mika Berghaus registered a 6-0, 6-2 win over Leandros Misdrachis in the No. 2 position, while Rafael Tosetto carded a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Maksims Kazijevs in the No. 4 get-together and Andre Rodeia earned a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Pierre Copin in the No. 6 slot.
The other three battles did not conclude, but the Golden Eagles (7-12) managed to collect wins in all three completed sets. Elias Grubert won the first set 6-1 over Daniel Perez Caraballo in the No. 1 meeting, while Carlos Vicente notched a 6-4 first-set nod against Nil Moinet in the No. 3 affair and Evzen Holis rolled off a 6-4 opening-set victory over Diego Britt-Alvarez in the No. 5 tilt.
Tech took care of business during doubles action to jump out to an early edge in the match. Mika Berghaus and Elias Grubert secured a 6-1 decision against Daniel Perez Caraballo and Diego Britt-Alvarez in the No. 1 showdown and Evzen Holis and Jun Sasagawa powered home a 6-1 win against Leandros Misdrachis and Maksims Kazijevs in the No. 2 matchup to help clinch the tandem point.
Sunday's championship showdown will be the fourth-straight time in which Tech and Belmont will play for all the marbles. The Golden Eagles took home the title in 2018 and 2019, while Belmont captured the 2021 championship in a match that saw Tech forced to forfeit a pair of points due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Bruins claimed this year's regular-season title over Tech with a 5-2 win in the regular-season finale on Apr. 23 in Nashville.
First serve from the Wesselmann Tennis Center in Evansville is slated for 2 p.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
