#2 IU Southeast wins KIAC Men's Tennis Tournament over #1 Asbury

4/30/2016 12:00:00 AM

DAYTON, Ohio -- No. 2 seed IU Southeast won the KIAC Men's Tennis Tournament championship on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over No. 1 seed Asbury University in the championship match at the Dayton Center Courts.

IU Southeast had a 2-1 lead after doubles play was completed and tacked on three more wins at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles to clinch the conference championship.

Both KIAC Tournament finalists advance to play in the Unaffiliated Group Tournament May 6-7 hosted by NAIA No. 1-ranked Georgia Gwinnett. The team champion there will move on to the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship.

IU Southeast has won the KIAC title for the second time in three years, and all three championship finals in that span have included Asbury and the Grenadiers.

IU Southeast improves to 16-11 overall and avenges an earlier loss this year to Asbury. The Eagles, ranked No. 25 in this week's NAIA Men's Tennis Top 25 Poll, are now 10-4 overall and were 5-0 KIAC.

The Grenadiers had an early lead when Jonathan James and Chris Braun teammed up for a doubles victory as did Bryson Mills and Jacob Rankin. Asbury had won No. 1 doubles with Joshua Abrams and Ty Abraham earning the victory.

Things shifted over to singles play with IU Southeast needing three of the six wins for the crown. Nick Roby won at No. 1 singles as did Rankin at No. 3 singles and Mills at No. 4 singles.

Asbury did have singles wins by by Abraham and Aquille Trotman. The final singles match had Asbury's Deuce Gibson leading IU Southeast's Braun, 1-0, when the Grenadiers registered their final point needed for the team win.