Men's Tennis | 4/26/2025 6:07:09 PM

EVANSVILLE, Ind.- The men's tennis program at Oakland City University continues to prove why they are the class of the River States Conference.

After winning all five of their RSC matches during the regular season by a 7-0 margin, the Mighty Oaks added two more sweeps on Saturday to claim their fourth consecutive River States Conference Men's Tennis Tournament title. The Mighty Oaks dispatched IU Southeast by a 4-0 score in the semifinals, then did the same to Midway in the championship match.

Oakland City claimed the doubles point of the championship match in just under 30 minutes, thanks to victories at the second and third flights. The team of Sebastian Bahamondes and Juanes Pinto claimed a 6-0 victory over their counterparts at the second flight, while Willem Cilliers and Agustin Siufi picked up a 6-3 win at the third flight. Midway actually led in the first doubles flight when the match was clinched, with the duo of German Collado and Ferran Clapes leading 5-3.

The Mighty Oaks then needed just over an hour to win the conference title in singles play, thanks to victories at the bottom three flights. Nelson Ramos was a 6-4, 6-3 winner at the fourth flight, while Pinto was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at the sixth flight, the first to finish. The clinching point was provided by Aleksander Ivancevic, who won his match at the fifth singles flight by a 6-1, 6-2 score. Oakland City also led in each of the three singles matches that remained unfinished.

Elsewhere in the bracket, favorites won across the board to lead to the Oakland City-Midway final. IU Southeast defeated Shawnee State 4-0 in the first quarterfinal, with Brescia picking up a 4-0 win over IU East in the other. The closest match of the tournament was the semifinal across from Oakland City, as Midway earned a 4-2 victory over Brescia.

The Mighty Oaks, ranked 19th in the nation in the final version of the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches Poll, now prepare for the 73rd Annual NAIA Men's Tennis National Championships, scheduled for May 13-17 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. Oakland City will learn their opponent on Tuesday, when the national championship qualifiers are released by the national office in Kansas City. It will be Oakland City's fourth-ever trip to the national tournament, with the program's first-ever win coming in 2023, a first round win over Cumberland.