DePaul Women, St. John’s Men Claim 2019 BIG EAST Tennis Championship Titles
CAYCE, S.C. – Top seeded St. John’s men and No. 2 DePaul women have both won the 2019 BIG EAST Tennis Championship presented by Jeep. It took both teams all seven matches to claim the title. The Red Storm erased 3-0 deficit to defeat No. 3 Marquette, 4-3, while the Blue Demons held on to take the crown from No. 1 Xavier, 4-3.
Senior Dusan Vukicevic was named Men’s Most Outstanding Player for his efforts in the championship. He won two singles and a doubles match during the tournament. Sophomore Marija Jovicic was the Women’s Most Outstanding Player. She went undefeated in singles and prevailed in two doubles matches.
St. John’s and DePaul have each earned an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm are back on top after winning the title from 2014-16, and DePaul wins the championship after finishing as runners-up last season. The Blue Demons win for the fourth time in six years, having won in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
The Johnnies came back from a 3-0 deficit to claim four straight points after dropping the doubles point and the first two singles matches versus Marquette, the defending champion. Vukicevic delivered a dramatic comeback on court No. 4 after falling in the first set, 5-7, against Brett Meyers. Vukicevic won the second set, 6-4, to even the score before winning in a tiebreak in the third set, 7-6(3).
Neither team wanted to give up the doubles point, but Marquette found a way to earn the early advantage. Alan Nunez Aguilera and Ognjen Trejgut gave the Red Storm a win first on court No. 2. Alvaro Verdu and Brett Meyers put the Golden Eagles on the board with a victory at No. 1. It came down to the No. 3 spot, where Luke Smrek played another pivotal role along with Fran San Andres to win the point for Marquette in a tiebreak, 7-6(8).
Brandon Shanklin at No. 6 and Greg Anderson at No. 5 both won in straight sets to give Marquette an early 3-0 lead. On the verge of elimination, the Red Storm charged back as Aditya Vashistha gave St. John’s its first point. Nunez Aguilera followed up with a victory at No. 2, while Andrei Crapcenco took Verdu to the third set before he secured the win, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, to tie the match at three points apiece.
It all came down to the final match on court No. 4 where Meyers took an early lead. Vukicevic gave himself and the Red Storm a chance by taking the match to a third set. The set went back and forth before Vukicevic grabbed a lead Meyers could not catch to finish the comeback for St. John’s.
The Blue Demons, last year’s runners-up, came out strong to secure the crucial doubles point and it turned out to be the difference. They pounced on the Musketeers, who had not lost since Feb. 1 and were riding a 20-game winning streak. Alina Kuzmenkova provided the heroics after she came from behind to seal the win for DePaul. She dropped the first set, 5-7, but turned around to take set two, 7-5. Kuzmenkova erased a 3-0 deficit in the third set to secure the win, 6-3, for the Blue Demons.
Jovicic and Milica Tesic at No. 2, along with Aspasia Avgeri and Kuzmenkova at No. 3 took care of business in that order to give DePaul the decisive doubles point, 6-2 and 6-3, respectively.
Keisha Clousing collected a point on the top singles court, just before Jovicic gave the Blue Demons a 3-0 lead. The Musketeers would not go down quietly as Hunter Roper put Xavier on the board in a three set win at No. 5, along with Kaitlin Ruether’s victory on the No. 6 court, 6-4, 7-6(4). Sophia Abelson defeated Avgeri in three sets to pull the Musketeers even at three points apiece. This led up to Kuzmenkova’s effort in a thrilling come-from-behind win against Emily Thomas, who on Sunday had clinched the match and sent Xavier to the title match.
Teams will now wait to see their placement in the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments. The brackets for both 64-team fields will be announced via a Selection Show on NCAA.com on April 29 (team) and 30 (individual).