Tyler earns second consecutive DI tennis title

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Waco, TX—Tyler (TX) swept all nine flights on the final day to capture the 2018 NJCAA DI Women's Tennis Championship at the Waco Regional and Tennis Fitness Center on Thursday. The title extends the Apaches' NJCAA record to 19 women's tennis national championships.

Tyler made a valiant jump on Wednesday after going 9-0 on the courts to build a four-point lead over second place Hillsborough (FL) as the Apaches went into the final day of competition with a 45-41 advantage. Tyler closed out the tournament with its second consecutive 9-0 day to give the Apaches its second-straight national title.

Hillsborough finished second with 41 points and ASA Miami finished third with 37 points. Tyler and ASA Miami have combined to win each of the last nine championships and have both finished inside the top three in every year dating back to 2013.

• Tyler's Tamara Arnold captured the pivotal No. 1 Singles Flight with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Abraham Baldwin's Celia Morel. Morel's run to the finals came as the No. 5 seed.
• Arnold and teammate Yuna Ito captured the No. 2 Doubles Flight 7-6, 6-3 over Valentina Dancenco and Hana Kvapilova of Hillsborough. Ito also won the No. 4 Singles Flight over Sarah Wardenburg of ASA Miami, 6-1, 6-1.
• Maria Genovese and Kalani Soli earned the No. 1 Doubles Flight championship with a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Genovese was also victorious in the No. 1 Singles Flight while Soli captured the No. 3 Singles Flight.
• The Apaches' became the first program to record 54 points at the national tournament since ASA Miami completed the feat in 2015 with all nine championships.
• Tyler's Dash Connell was named the Coach of the Tournament for the second consecutive season.
• The 13-point margin of victory is the largest at the national tournament since 2010 where the Apaches scored 52 points, 14 more than Lee's (TX) 36.
• Neus Torregrosa of Barton (KS) was named the Jovana Vasic Spirit of Competition award winner for the second consecutive year.
• Hillsborough boasted five runners-up finishes as the Hawks drastically improved on their 23^rd place finish from a year ago at the national tournament. Kvapilova earned a runner-up finish in both the No. 2 Singles Flight and the No. 2 Doubles Flight.
• Claudia Barboza and Sarah Wardenburg of ASA Miami each finished as runners-up in their respective flight.
• The title is the third of the 2017-18 season for the Tyler athletic department after the men's and women's soccer teams captured titles in the fall semester. The Apaches now have 59 national titles in program history.

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