ITA Indoors: Warriors Finish Top Four in NAIA

By Francisco Claudio

If you haven't been following the Westcliff tennis teams, let me tell you, you've been missing out.

This past weekend the Westcliff men's tennis team traveled to Overland, Kansas to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships where the top eight programs in the country would compete.

This came after several months of success, including winning the GSAC title, reaching the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship, and capturing the men's singles and doubles ITA West Regionals trophies.

Westcliff was invited to the Indoor Championships as the No. 5 team with seven other heavy-weight programs.

In order: Georgia Gwinnett, Tennessee Wesleyan, Northwestern Ohio, Southeastern, Westcliff, William Woods, Xavier (LA.), and Coastal Georgia.

No time to take it easy when you're going up against the best in the country.

But the Warriors have proven that they belong here and have slowly put themselves in the category of the best in the NAIA.

Assistant Coach Mike Longanecker shares the same sentiment after seeing this team develop with each passing match: "I think this experience validates to the team just how strong they are and how close they are to competing for a national title in May. GSAC is a critical step in that process, so when it comes to conference matches they will use this experience to be prepared."

The No. 5th seed Westcliff took on No. 4 Southeastern in their first match. The winner would move on to the semifinals.

The Warriors fell behind early after losing the doubles point, so they would have to win four singles matches to move on.

They did just that with singles No. 2 Borna Devald winning in three sets 6-1, 2-6, 7-6.

Singles No. 3 Maxence Kupfert won 6-4, 6-3.

Singles No. 4 Max Mueller won 6-3, 6-3.

Singles No. 5 Karlo Krolo got the winning point with a straight sets win of 6-2, 6-1.

Longanecker has high praise for Krolo and has been very impressed with one of the most recent additions to the tennis program: "Karlo Krolo has really shown his talents on game day. He has high energy and remains composed under pressure. On top of that, he has the 5C's mindset while only being here for three weeks."

 The Warriors advanced to the semifinals and were set to play against the No. 1 seed, Georgia Gwinnett.

And although the Warriors weren't able to take down the best team in the NAIA, the hunger and motivation to get better after a loss was admirable.

"I have been impressed with how much extra time and work this team wants to put in before and after matches to help prepare themselves for the next day," Longanecker said after the match. "It shows how much they really want it.

"This team has great team spirit and a great culture which leads to a unified vision of success. They know that if they want to win, they need to put in that extra work and get out of their comfort zone. Like all teams, we do have things to work on. Right now we are really focusing on conditioning and building confidence."

The Warriors' trip wasn't over yet though as they would get a chance to compete for a third-place finish on Sunday evening.

Their opponent was the No. 3 seed University of Northwestern Ohio.

Having followed the match on the live stream let me tell you that the Warrior spirit displayed by this group is unmatched against anyone else that was present that day.

The support and camaraderie for one another make this team strong at the core.

The winner was decided until the last match was completed as Westcliff fell 4-3.

Every singles match was close and either had a tie-break or went on to a deciding third set.

A tough loss for the Warriors.

But still, they were able to finish within the top four, which is something to be proud of.

It will be a good measuring stick that the team will be able to use moving forward as they shift their focus on defending the GSAC title.

One thing is for certain, this team only got stronger after the addition of some new players in the offseason and retaining the foundational players from last year.

"No doubt that Borna and Karlo stood out as a pair in doubles," shared Head Coach Ross Duncan. "They went undefeated over the weekend.

"In singles, Borna won two matches at No. 2 and Karlo didn't lose a match in his singles performance."

Duncan is pleased with how well his team performed and is eager to see their results in the upcoming season and Nationals.

"The trip was very valuable and a great experience for us," Duncan said. It highlighted some weaknesses that we have but also showed that we can compete and beat anyone out there. It was also very good for team building and camaraderie.

"I was very proud of how the boys practiced and competed out there."

Up next, the Warriors will hit their home courts this weekend when they take on Cal Tech.

The match will be on Saturday, February 10th, at the OC Great Park.

The first serve will be shortly after 3:30 PM.

If you haven't had a chance to watch our tennis team play, you're missing out on one of the best programs in the NAIA.

You can't miss them since they'll be the loudest team cheering.

"Go Blue!"