UC-SANTA CRUZ CAPTURES NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP

ST. LOUIS (May 17) – Top-ranked University of California-Santa Cruz posted a 5-1 win over No. 3 Emory University to win the 2007 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship on Thursday at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, Mo.

"This is a very special team, and this has been an amazing season from start to finish," said UC-Santa Cruz head coach Bob Hansen, who won the school's sixth national title in men's tennis. "We played really well in doubles, and clamped down in singles."

UC-Santa Cruz (21-5), who was making its 11th national championship match appearance, built a 2-1 lead after claiming victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Matt Seeberger and Max Ortiz of UC-Santa-Cruz defeated Michael Goodwin and Yoji Masuoka at No. 1 doubles, 8-4, to gain the first point of the match.

The Banana Slugs made it 2-0 after Jared Kamel and Mark Vartabedian posted an 8-3 win over Chris Jordan and Hardy Ehlers at No. 3. Emory, the 2006 national champion, avoided the sweep in doubles when Michael Kaufman and Oliver Lopp notched an 8-5 victory over Max Liberty-Point and Bryan Pabas at No. 2.

"Emory is an extremely talented team and we were competing hard for every single point," Hansen added. "I couldn't be happier about the way we played today. They were champions and were prepared and relaxed."

Pybas responded in singles with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Lopp at No. 3. Kamel also won convincingly over Masuoka at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1, to push the Banana Slugs lead to 4-1. Ortiz then clinched the title for UC-Santa Cruz, defeating Mark Boren 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5.

Emory, who was making their second-consecutive and fifth overall national title match appearance, ends its season with a 22-9 overall record.

"It feels good, couldn't be better," said Seeberger, a two-time NCAA singles and doubles champion. "The doubles was very close, and I knew it would be a very close match all the way through singles. Our guys were able to keep the momentum and stay on their opponents."

In the third-place match, No. 3 Middlebury (22-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in doubles en route to a 5-1 win over No.5 Gustavus Adolphus College.