Valpo Captures First Horizon League Men's Tennis Title

Valparaiso vs. Green Bay Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Valparaiso avenged last year’s defeat to Green Bay in the Horizon League Men’s Tennis Championship, sweeping the Phoenix 4-0 en route to the program’s first conference title in the sport.

The title snapped Green Bay’s run of three titles in four years, including consecutive efforts in 2014 and 2015. The Phoenix have now been in the Horizon League title match each of the last five seasons.

Valparaiso would not relinquish its stranglehold on the match after capturing the doubles point before a raucous crowd at the Varsity Tennis Center on the University of Michigan campus.

Jeffrey Schorsch and Charlie Emhardt, nationally ranked in doubles throughout the year, got the Crusaders started with a 6-3 win at No. 1 before Miles McDowall and Matej Kostadinov turned the focus on to the No. 2 court with a 6-3 win for the Phoenix at No. 3.

On court No. 2, Dave Bacalla and Garrett Gardner rallied from an early break to post a 6-2 victory, sending the Crusaders into singles play with the momentum and a 1-0 lead.

Schorsch continued his dominant play at No. 1 singles, backing up his two-time Horizon League Player of the Year status with a 6-2, 6-4 victory to extend the Crusaders advantage. His doubles partner Emhardt followed soon after with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3, putting Valparaiso on the brink of a championship.

Still, Green Bay would not go down without a fight, as it pushed all four remaining matches into a third set. With Leo Gomez Islinger and Florian Kraenzler leading the third, it appeared as if the Phoenix might find a path into a third straight championship, but Garrett Gardner would not be denied at No. 5.

After dropping the first set, Gardner evened the match with a 6-2 second set and then rode the wave of momentum to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 tournament-clinching victory.

After its unbeaten run through Horizon League play, Valparaiso will find out its NCAA Tournament destination at 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 3, on NCAA.com.