DENVER, Colo. -- The University of North Dakota men's tennis team added another first to its historic season on Friday afternoon, defeating Omaha by a 4-1 score in the semifinal round of the Summit League Men's Tennis Championships from Denver, Colo.
The win advances UND (18-4) to its first conference title match in program history and joins men's basketball (2020) and women's tennis (2023) as the third program to play for a conference championship since joining the Summit League.
"I thought our team handled the occasion and the situation incredibly well today," said UND head coach
Tom Boysen. "Credit to our senior leadership and discipline for setting the tone this week."
It was a strong start for the Fighting Hawks on the doubles courts, as the No. 2 and 3 pairings jumped out to early leads and never looked back to help the green and white grab a 1-0 lead. The bottom duo of
Jerall Yasin and
Leo Galliano started it off with a 6-2 triumph before
Ethan Terry and
Andrew Hayduke II notched a pair of back-to-back wins to break a 4-4 deadlock and secure the doubles point by a 6-4 score.
"Really pleased with the three doubles teams today," said Boysen. "We quickly had leads on a couple of the courts, and I thought our execution of doubles skills was really good."
UND kept the hot start going into singles play, as Galliano made quick work of his opponent on the No. 3 court by a 6-0, 6-1 score to double the UND lead to 2-0. The freshman, who was named Summit League Newcomer of the Year on Thursday, also broke the program record for singles wins in a season with 18 and is just three wins shy of the program record for total wins in a season (32).
Christos Alex had to jump into the sixth position and did not disappoint, stretching the advantage to 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 lead to push the match to a clinching position. Omaha would respond, however, with a triumph on the No.1 court to trim the lead to 3-1.
After gutting out a 7-6 victory in his opening set,
Ange-Kevin Koua put his foot down at the No. 2 spot and cruised to his ninth straight singles win by a 7-6, 6-2 score to clinch the match victory and send NoDak to the conference final.
"Leo and Christos helped tremendously by getting some quick, straight-set wins, and Kevin just continued his winning ways of late by delivering the clinching point against a very good opponent," said Boysen. "This was a true team victory and the entire squad is so excited to play for a Summit League Championship tomorrow."
North Dakota, who claimed 10 NCC titles as a Division II program, will play for its first conference crown since 1989 and a spot in the national tournament at 11 a.m. (CT) from Denver.
For more information on North Dakota men's tennis, follow on social media @UNDmtennis or visit FightingHawks.com.
