MEADVILLE, Pa. -- For the second year in a row, the Allegheny College men's tennis team captured the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship and is headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators (15-5), the top seed in the 2024 PAC Championship Tournament, defeated No. 2 Grove City College (13-7) by a 5-1 final score in a rematch of the 2023 PAC finals on Saturday evening. With the win, Allegheny earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championships, which begin with first-round action on Saturday, May 10.
In what has quickly developed into a rivalry since Allegheny returned to the PAC ahead of the 2022-23 season, the Blue and Gold matched last season's finals result with a 5-1 victory. And like last spring, the only point Allegheny dropped came at No. 3 doubles.
Perhaps the only rain on the Gators' parade was…rain. A brief downpour around 5:30 p.m. created a near-two-hour delay, as the two teams waited for a nearby storm to pass before painstakingly drying the courts.
Allegheny led 2-1 at the time of the rain delay, and four Gators had already won the first set of their singles matches. When play resumed,
Anton Hedlund (Hovas, Sweden/Katrinelundsgymnasiet) was the first to finish and was a 6-3, 6-2 victor over Benjamin Jones.
Benedek Kaibas (Salgótarján, Hungary/Mikszáth Kálmán Gimnázium) extended Allegheny's lead to 4-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Collier Kaufman.
David Rodriguez (St. Ann's, Trinidad & Tobago/Fatima College) won the clinching point in the second spot in the lineup against Josiah Newton, 6-2, 6-2.
Hedlund, Rodriguez, and
Will Jarvie (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) were named to the PAC's All-Tournament Team, and Hedlund was recognized as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second year in a row.
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Doubles Results
1.
Anton Hedlund /
David Rodriguez def. Josiah Newton / Jose Pablo Leon, 8-1
2.
Will Jarvie /
Benedek Kaibas def. Gavin Miller / Jameson Sposato, 8-5
3. Benjamin Jones / Collier Kaufmann def.
Reid Stasolla /
Guillaume Emiliano Loinard-Gonzalez, 8-2
Singles Results
1.
Anton Hedlund def. Benjamin Jones, 6-3, 6-2
2.
David Rodriguez def. Josiah Newton, 6-2, 6-2
3. Gavin Miller vs.
Will Jarvie, 7-6 (6), unfinished
4.
Benedek Kaibas def. Collier Kaufman, 6-3, 6-1
5.
Reid Stasolla vs. Jameson Sposato, 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
6.
Mitchell Curtis vs. Isaac DeMan, 6-0, 1-6, unfinished
Up Next
With the PAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships, the Gators will play an opponent to be announced in the first round on Saturday, March 10. Tournament selections will be announced at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, May 6, on NCAA.com.
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