Butler and DePaul Win #BEtennis Titles in Dramatic Fashion
Men's Final | Women's Final
CAYCE, South Carolina - The 2017 BIG EAST Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships presented by Jeep were won in dramatic fashion as the No.3 Butler men topped No. 5 Marquette,4-3 and second-seeded DePaul women bested No.1 St. John’s, 4-3.
The win marks Butler’s first program title while DePaul garners its third BIG EAST tournament title in the last four years.
Butler’s senior Mikheil Khmiadashvili was named the Men’s Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament after clinching the Bulldog’s 4-3 wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. DePaul’s Patricia Lancranjan earned the Women’s Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament after going undefeated at the conference tournament. Over the course of three matches, she was 3-0 at No. 3 singles and 3-0 at No. 2 doubles with Clousing.
Like the semifinal round, the men’s title match came down to a dramatic final-court finish. Marquette opened the match by capturing the doubles points with wins at No.2 and No. 3. Butler responded with a straight-set win from Khmiadashvili at No.3, tying the score 1-1.
Kris Trukov and Brette Meyers helped push Marquette back into the lead with straight-set wins at No.5 and No.6, respectively.
With Marquette leading 3-1, the Bulldogs stayed persistent as Spencer Lang cut Marquette’s lead to one with a straight-set win over Nick Dykema at No.4.
In the last two singles matches, Aviv Ben Shabat and Mason Dragos made the final push for the Bulldogs. After they both lost the first set in their matches, they rallied for 6-3 wins in their respective second sets. Dragos made short work of Luke Smrek in the third set, taking a 6-1 win. That leveled the match at 3-3. Ben Shabat went up 3-1 after an early break of serve and was able to pull out the third set, 6-4, for the Butler win.
The intensity of BIG EAST Championship Sunday continued into the women’s bracket as the DePaul – St. John’s match up also came down to a final set, this time at the No. 2 courts.
The Blue Demons collected wins at the No.2 and No.3 doubles courts to open the match with a 1-0 advantage. DePaul carried that energy into singles action, as Lancranjan notched the first singles point with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elgegren at No. 3. Relentless, the Johnnies battled back to go ahead, 3-2 with straight-set victories by Irina Preotescu at No.6, Jessica Livianu at No.1 and Olaya Inclan Solis at No.5
With two courts left, DePaul knotted the score, 3-3. Ana Vladutu tallied a three-set 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Stanisz at No. 4, leaving the decision to DePaul’s Keisha Clousing and St. John’s Stephanie Elgegren, Keisha claimed the court and the DePaul 4-3 title victory with a 6-4, 7-5 finish.
With their BIG EAST titles, Butler and DePaul receive the conference’s automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship. The complete bracket for the men’s tournament will be revealed at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2, via a selection show on NCAA.com. The women’s bracket reveal will follow at 5:30 p.m.