ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - The Ouachita Tigers' men's tennis team were denied their fifth GAC tennis championship on Saturday in Bentonville, Ark. The Tigers were defeated by Oklahoma Baptist by a final of 5-3. The loss is the first for Ouachita in a GAC men's tennis championship final  and only their second overall in conference tournament play. 

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in doubles with wins by the duos of Luis Chab/Juan Moncada and Andre Stefano/Braydon Montgomery. Oklahoma Baptist rallied to a 4-2 lead in singles competitions. Dan Kaplun pulled Ouachita within one after his straight-sets win at No. 4 singles. Oklahoma Baptist took the next singles match to clinch the win.

"I have never been more proud of a team," head coach Craig Ward said. "These guys faced a lot of adversity on the court. We had a lot of close matches during the regular season but seemed to end up on the losing end very often. But off the court they stayed close and never gave up in each other. It paid off this past weekend and we were able to come home with a trophy. Character determines destiny, always."

 GAC Men's Tennis Championship
April 22, 2017 (finals)
Oklahoma Baptist 5, Ouachita 3
 
Singles:
#1 Kevin Andrusch (OKB) d. Lennart Lonneman (OUA) 6-1, 6-1
#2 Lucas Castelo Branco (OKB) vs. Luis Chab (OUA), did not finish
#3 Luis Romero (OKB) d. Juan Moncada (OUA) 6-2, 6-2
#4 Dan Kaplun (OUA) d. Matias Le Fort (OKB) 6-3, 6-3 
#5 Gianluca Galdi (OKB) d. Nair Adi (OUA) 6-4, 6-3
#6 Thomas Ackerknecht (OKB) d. Andre Stefano (OUA) 6-1, 6-2
 
Doubles:
#1 Chab/Moncada (OUA) d. Andrusch/Galdi (OKB) 8-6
#2 Ackerknecht/Romero (OKB) d. Lonnemann/Kaplun (OUA) 8-5
#3 Stefano/Montgomery (OUA) d. Le Fort/Castelo Branco (OKB) 8-4
 
Order of finish: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 1-6-3-4-5