NAIA national tournament bound Savannah College of Arts and Design Atlanta held-off Dalton State men’s tennis, 5-4, Sunday at the Lakeshore Park Tennis Center in Dalton.
The score was the same when the two schools met in Atlanta back in February with the upstart Roadrunners finishing on top.
Dalton State finished the inaugural season with 13 wins against just six losses. The visiting Beas go into the nationals with an 11-4 record.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champions took two of the three doubles matches.
1. Adam Hornsby and Nikolay Nikiforov (DS) defeated Mikalah Vea and Joseph Dwyer (SCAD), 8-6.
2. Alex Maeda and Chandler Saunders (SCAD) defeated Juan Pablo Arguello and Hadyn Fava (DS), 8-2.
3. Takaaki Imoto and Julian Guzman (SCAD) defeated Lucas de Souza and David Draghiceanu (DS), 8-6.
The teams each took three singles contests.
1. Nikiforov (DS) downed Vea (SCAD), 6-3, 6-7 (1), (10-4).
2. Guzman (SCAD) defeated Draghiceanu (DS), 6-2, 6-0.
3. Dwyer (SCAD) defeated Arguello (DS), 6-4, 6-4.
4. Saunders (SCAD) downed Hornby (DS), 6-2, 4-2.
5. Souza (DS) defeated Denzil Hollis (SCAD), 6-0, 6-1.
6. Fava (DS) downed Imoto (SCAD), 6-4, 6-3.