Lander captured its eighth straight NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship May 14 with a 5-2 win over Hawaii Pacific.

The win breaks the record Lander shared with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, which won seven in a row from 1978-1984. The national title is actually the Senators' 10th in a row, including NAIA titles in 1991 and 1992.

The Senators battled through an injury-plagued season that saw them fall as far as eighth-ranked nationally. A bright spot during their season, however, was a 4-3 victory over defending Division I national champion Georgia.

"Every match was hard," Lander coach Joe Cabri said. "I thought the tournament was as strong as any of the ones I've been to."

After splitting the first two doubles matches, a pivotal win by Tobias Huning and Erik Friberg at No. 3 doubles gave Lander a 2-1 lead heading into singles play. There, Huning put a stop to Hawaii Pacific's Jan Tribler, who had marched through the tournament with wins over the No. 6 and No. 2 seeds.

The Sea Warriors' Erik Sandblom returned the favor with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Lander's Evgeni Mikheev at No. 2 singles. Hawaii Pacific then forced three of the remaining four matches to third sets, but Lander's experience came through as Friberg won at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, and Fernando Las Heras won at No. 5 singles, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

"It was a little scary to see them drop a set," Cabri said. "Hawaii Pacific didn't give up until the last point. It made it a little more tense than I wanted it to be."

In the third-place match, Ouachita Baptist regrouped from its loss to Lander by defeating Valdosta State, 5-1.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

Regionals

East Regional -- Lees-McRae 5, Carson-Newman 0; Belmont Abbey 5, Kutztown 3; Lees-McRae 5, Belmont Abbey 0. (Lees-McRae advances.) Bloomsburg 6, Mars Hill 1; Concordia 5, Millersville 1; Bloomsburg 5, Concordia 4. (Bloomsburg advances.) Anderson 5, Dowling 1; Erksine 5, Assumption 1; Anderson 5, Erksine 2. (Anderson advances.)

Midwest Regional -- Ouachita Baptist 5, UC-Colo. Springs 0; Abilene Christian 5, Colorado Mines 1; Ouachita Baptist 5, Abilene Christian 1. (Ouachita Baptist advances.) Northwood 5, Indianapolis 0; Texas Wesleyan 5, Southern Indiana 1; Northwood 5, Texas Wesleyan 0. (Northwood advances). Drury 5, Truman St. 0; West Tex. A & M 5, Northeastern St. 3; Drury 5, West Tex. A&M 2. (Drury advances.) Ferris St. 5, Neb.-Kearney 1; Southwest Baptist 5, Metro St. 2; Ferris St. 5, Southwest Baptist 1. (Ferris St. advances).

South Regional -- Valdosta St. 5, S.C.-Aiken 0. (Valdosta St. advances.) North Fla. 5, Augusta St. 1; Lander 5, North Fla. 0. (Lander advances.) Columbus St. 5, Lincoln Memorial 2; Armstrong Atlantic 5, Columbus St. 1. (Armstrong Atlantic advances.) Rollins 5, Ala.-Huntsville 0; West Fla. 5, Rollins 1. (West Fla. advances.) Lynn 5, Morehouse 0; Fla. Southern 5, Lynn 3. (Fla. Southern advances.) Barry 5, Delta St. 0; Barry 5, Francis Marion 3. (Barry advances.)

West Regional -- BYU-Hawaii 8, Hawaii-Hilo 1; Hawaii Pacific 5, BYU-Hawaii 0. (Hawaii Pacific advances.) Cal Poly 5, Sonoma St. 2; UC Davis 6, Cal Poly 0. (UC Davis advances.)

First round

Drury 5, Barry 2; Armstrong Atlantic 6, St. Edwards 1; Lander 5, Northwood 0; Valdosta St. 5, Lees-McRae 0; Ouachita Baptist 5, Anderson (S.C.) 0; West Fla. 5, UC Davis 2; Hawaii Pacific 5, Bloomsburg 0; Fla. Southern 5, Ferris St. 2.

Quarterfinals

Hawaii Pacific 5, Fla. Southern 2; Lander 5, Armstrong Atlantic 2; Ouchita Baptist 5, West Fla. 4; Valdosta St. 5, Drury 2.

Semifinals

Lander 5, Ouachita Baptist 1; Hawaii Pacific 5, Valdosta St. 4.

Third place

Ouachita Baptist 5, Valdosta St. 1

Doubles -- No. 1: Daniel Vejman-Martin Linkhorst, Ouachita Baptist, def. Christophe Napp-David Olave, Valdosta St., 9-8 (5); No. 2: Raul Bermudez-Nicolas Buffon, Ouachita Baptist, def. Nico Sablowski-Rasmus Larsen, Valdosta St., 8-5; No. 3: Gilles Lagaradere-Johan Eriksson, Ouchita Baptist, def. Marco Borges-Andy von Michaelis, Valdosta St., 8-6.

Singles -- No. 1: Vejman, Ouachita Baptist, def. Napp, Valdosta St., 6-3, 6-3; No. 2: Suspended; No. 3: Suspended; No. 4: Suspended; No. 5: Eriksson, Ouachita Baptist, def. Larsen, Valdosta St., 7-6(3), 7-6(1); No. 6: von Michaelis, Valdosta. St., def. Buffon, Ouachita Baptist, 7-5, 6-2.

Championship

Lander 5, Hawaii Pacific 2

Doubles -- No. 1: Tobias Huning-Erik Friberg, Lander, def. Erik Sandblom-Stephan Pampulov, Hawaii Pacific, 9-8 (11-9); No. 2: Jan Tribler-Wojtek Bratek, Hawaii Pacific, def. H.B. Nordstrom-Fernando Las Heras, Lander, 8-4; No. 3: Evgeni Mikheev-Milan Djeric, Lander, def. Filip Meijer-Jacob Nygren, Hawaii Pacific, 8-4.

Singles -- No. 1: Huning, Lander, def. Tribler, Hawaii Pacific, 6-2, 6-0; No. 2: Sandblom, Hawaii Pacific, def. Mikheev, Lander, 6-2, 6-1; No. 3: Suspended; No. 4: Friberg, Lander, def. Nygren, Hawaii Pacific, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; No. 5: Las Heras, Lander, def. Bratek, Hawaii Pacific, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; No. 6: Suspended.