UC Santa Cruz won the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship in dominating fashion over Amherst May 21 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Banana Slugs, who claimed their seventh overall championship and third in the last 10 years, posted a 5-0 win against Amherst, which was making its first championship-match appearance.

UC Santa Cruz swept the three doubles matches and claimed the two singles matches necessary for the win in straight sets. In doubles, Max Liberty-Point teamed with Ilya Gendelman at the No. 1 position to defeat Amherst’s Zack Lerner and Moritz Koenig, 8-6. Playing in the No. 2 slot, Priit Gross and Austin Chafetz of Amherst fell to Jared Kamel and Mark Vartabedian, 8-5. The Banana Slugs’ Max Ortiz and Colin Mark-Griffin beat Andrew Jung and Wes Waterman, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles.

Wins at No 5 and No. 1 singles, respectively, sealed the title for UC Santa Cruz. Mark-Griffin breezed by Gross, 6-4, 6-2, and Liberty-Point registered a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Lerner.

Amherst advanced to the final match after snapping top-ranked Washington-St. Louis’ 19-match win streak in the semifinals. The Jeffs closed out the year 28-7. UC Santa Cruz finished the season with an 18-7 record.

In the individual portion of the tournament, Michael Goodwin became the first Emory men’s player to capture an individual title when he defeated Bates’ Ben Stein on May 24. Goodwin downed Stein 7-5, 5-7, 6-1, to win the championship.

The senior from Emory won the first set of the title match, 7-5, and had a 5-3 edge in the second, but Stein battled back to tie the set and capture the next two games to even the match at one set each. Goodwin regained the momentum and dominated the third set, winning 6-1, to claim the singles title.

Stein, however, did take home a trophy. After falling to Goodwin in the singles final earlier in the day, he teamed with Amrit Rupasinghe to capture the doubles title in a three-set victory over Bowdoin’s Jamie Neely and Oscar Pena.

Stein and Rupasinghe cruised to a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win to earn the second tennis championship and the second NCAA title in any sport at Bates.

Bates netted the first set, 6-4, after taking advantage of an early break. But, the Bowdoin due responded in the second set, breaking their opponent three times en route to a 7-5 win to even the match and send the contest to a decisive third set.

Bates jumped to an early 2-0 lead but Bowdoin battled back to tie the third set at four games apiece. Stein and Rupasinghe re-established the momentum, winning the next two games to take the set 6-4 and seal the title. 

Quarterfinals

Washington-St. Louis 5, Gust. Adolphus 3; Amherst 5, Middlebury 1; UC Santa Cruz 5, Williams 0; Emory 5, Kenyon 0.

Semifinals

Amherst 5, Washington-St. Louis, 2; UC Santa Cruz 5, Emory 4.

Third-place match

Emory 5, Washington-St. Louis 3

Doubles: No. 1 -- Charlie Cutler-Chris Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis, def. Michael Goodwin-Chris Goodwin, Emory, 8-3; No. 2 -- David Caplan-Mark Boren, Emory, def. Max Woods-Isaac Stein, Washington-St. Louis, 9-7; No. 3 -- John Watts-Nirmal Choradia, Washington-St. Louis, def. Chris Jordan-Colin Egan, Emory, 8-2;

Singles: No. 1 -- Watts, Washington-St. Louis, def. M. Goodwin, Emory, 3-6, 6-2, 3-6; No. 2 -- C. Goodwin, Emory, def. Cutler, Washington-St. Louis; No. 3 -- Boren, Emory, def. Woods, Washington-St. Louis, 6-1, 6-3; No. 4 -- Egan, Emory, vs. Stein, Washington-St. Louis, 7-6, 5-7, 0-1 (did not finish); No. 5 -- Oliver Lopp, Emory, def. Danny Levy, Washington-St. Louis, 6-3, 6-0; No. 6 -- Chris Redmond, Emory, def. Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Championship

UC Santa Cruz 5, Amherst 0

Doubles: No. 1 -- Max Liberty-Point-Ilya Gendelman, UC Santa Cruz, def. Zack Lerner--Moritz Koenig, Amherst, 8-6; No. 2 -- Jared Kamel-Marc Vartabedian, UC Santa Cruz, def. Priit Gross-Austin Chafetz, Amherst, 8-5; No. 3 -- Max Ortiz-Colin Mark-Griffin, UC Santa Cruz, def. Wes Waterman-Andrew Jung, Amherst, 8-6.

Singles: No. 1 -- Liberty-Point, UC Santa Cruz, def. Lerner, Amherst, 6-3, 7-6; No. 2 -- Chafetz, Amherst, vs. Kamel, UC Santa Cruz, 6-7, 2-4 (did not finish); No. 3 -- Jung, Amherst, vs. Ortiz, UC Santa Cruz, 6-2, 2-6, 2-1 (did not finish); No. 4 -- Koenig, Amherst, vs. Gendelman, UC Santa Cruz, 6-7, 4-4 (did not finish); No. 5 -- Mark-Griffin, UC Santa Cruz, def. Grossm, Amherst, 6-4, 6-2; No. 6 -- Waterman, Amherst, vs. Vartabedian, UC Santa Cruz, 2-6, 5-6 (did not finish).

Individual results

First round: Will Zhang, Chicago, def. Chris Goodwin, Emory, 7-5, 6-3; Mark Boren, Emory, def. Michael Greenberg, Kenyon, 6-3, 6-0; John Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, def. Max Frey, Trinity (Tex.), 6-2, 6-1; Andrew Wang, Johns Hopkins, def. Zack Lerner, Amherst, 6-2, 6-1; Charlie Cutler, Washington-St. Louis, def. Dustin Phillips, Texas-Tyler, 6-2, 6-2; Conrad Olson, Middlebury, def. Carlos Perez Borja, Grinnell, 6-1, 6-0; David Maldow, Johns Hopkins, def. Austin Chafetz, 6-1, 6-4; John Watts, Washington-St. Louis, def. Clifford Yook, Chapman, 6-1, 6-0; Randy Loden, Mary Washington, def. Spencer Feldman, Trinity (Conn.), 6-1, 7-5; Ben Stein, Bates, def. Robbie Erani, Claremont-M-S, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2; Michael Goodwin, Emory, def. Jeremy Weinberger, Williams, 7-5, 6-2; Nick Lebedoff, Williams, def. Jared Kamel, UC Santa Cruz, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; John James, Mary Washington, def. Max Liberty-Point, UC Santa Cruz, 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3; John Pelton, Hope, def. James Muliawan, Carnegie Mellon, 6-2, 6-4; Larry Wang, Claremont-M-S, def. Stephen Sullivan, Bowdoin, 7-5, 6-2; Tomas Piskacek, Kenyon, def. Andrew Giuffrida, Cal Lutheran, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Second round: Wang, Claremont-M-S, def. Pelton, Hope, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Zhang, Chicago, def. Lebedoff, Williams, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-2; Goodwin, Emory, def. Piskacek, Kenyon, 6-2, 6-2; Watts, Washington-St. Louis, def. Maldow, Johns Hopkins, 6-2, 6-1; Stein, Bates, def. Boren, Emory, 6-4, 6-4; Olson, Middlebury, def. James, Mary Washington, 6-0, 6-0; Wang, Johns Hopkins, def. Cutler, Washington-St. Louis, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, def. Loden, Mary Washington, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Quarterfinals: Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, def. Zhang, Chicago, 7-5, 6-2; Stein, Bates, def. Maldow, Johns Hopkins, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-0; Olson, Middlebury, def. Watts, Washington-St. Louis, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Goodwin, Emory, def. Wang, Claremont-M-S, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4.

Semifinals: Stein, Bates, def. Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, 7-5, 7-5; Goodwin, Emory, def. Olson, Middlebury, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Championship: Goodwin, Emory, def. Stein, Bates, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

Doubles

First round: Mike Burdakin-John Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, def. David Maldow-Andrew Wang, Johns Hopkins, 7-6(5), 6-3; Zack Lerner-Moritz Koenig, Amherst, def. Mike Reading-Cameron Spearman, Redlands, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Ben Stein-Amrit Ruspasinghe, Bates, def. Max Liberty-Point-Ilya Gendelman, UC Santa Cruz, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Charlie Cutler-Chris Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis, def. Evan Thomas-Scott Burtzlaff, Salisbury, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Michael Greenberg-William VandenBerg, Kenyon, def. Randy Loden-Kaz Murata, Mary Washington, 6-0, 6-2; Jamie Neely, Oscar Pena, Bowdoin, def. Michael Goodwin-Chris Goodwin, Emory, 7-6(5), 6-4; Dan LaFountaine-Nate Fox, Grinnell, def. David Ashlock-Dustin Phillips, Texas-Tyler, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1; Bobby Cocanaugher-Cory Kowai, Trinity (Tex.), def. Andrew Thompson-David Farah, Middlebury, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Quarterfinals: Cocanaugher-Kowal, Trinity (Tex.) def. Burdakin-Kauss, Gust. Adolphus, 6-3, 6-2 ; Neely-Pena, Bowdoin, def. Fox-LaFountaine, Grinnell, 7-5, 7-6(4); Cutler-Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis, def Koenig-Lerner, Amherst, 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4; Ruspasinghe-Stein, Bates, def. Greenberg-VandenBerg, Kenyon, 7-6(1), 6-2.

Semifinals: Ruspasinghe-Stein, Bates, def. Cutler-Hoeland, Washington-St. Louis, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4; Neely-Pena, Bowdoin, def. Cocanaugher-Kowal, Trinity (Tex.), 6-2, 7-6;

Championship: Ruspasinghe-Stein, Bates, def. Neely-Pena, Bowdoin, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.