ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The upset-minded Cameron men's tennis team opens the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament early Wednesday morning by facing No. 1 Columbus State.
For the third straight time in three chances,
Josh Cobbles' Aggies are in the National Tournament and for the second straight time they get a chance to upset the top-seed Cougars as the two teams met in the quarterfinal last year with CSU winning 4-0. The opening round match is set for 7 a.m. (CT).
The 2022 Aggies have a new energy and mindset as they open play at the Sanlando Tennis Park after beating rival Midwestern State, who was ranked higher than CU, last week in Wichita Falls, 4-2.
Thomas Cardona and
Tomas Almeida continued their strong play at No. 1 doubles with a 6-3 win and then
Baptiste Mercier and
Joao Duleba won 6-4 at three to earn the doubles point for CU. Cardona, Duleba, and
Carlos Vidal added singles wins to secure the Aggies' spot in Florida.
Now with a 14-8 overall record this spring, Cameron is led by the LSC Newcomer and Freshman of the Year Almeida and Cardona. Almeida is 15-6 playing mostly at one singles with two wins over ranked opponents while Cardona is 17-2 with a 14-0 record at two and three ranked wins. Vidal has 10 wins at No. 3 for CU while Duleba and
Kristian Kubik both have 10 total wins this spring.
In doubles, Cardona and Almeida are 18-4 with seven wins at No. 1 doubles including the upset win over MSU's fourth ranked duo last week. Vidal and Kubik have three wins at both one and two doubles while Mercier and Duleba are now 1-0 with their win against MSU.
As a team, Cameron is currently ranked No. 40 by the ITA with Cardona ranked No. 26 in singles play and Almeida coming in at No. 64 in the latest ranks.
The Cougars have a 20-2 record, entering the final postseason tournament on a five-match winning streak. They beat No. 24 Blemont Abbey College and No. 16 Lander to win the Southeast Regional last week.
Columbus State is ranked No. 1 by the ITA as a team and have four players ranked in the top-75 in singles and three doubles pairs are ranked in the top-50 pairs. Alvaro Regalado is the top singles play in Division II with an 18-1 record with Tommas Schold ranked No. 38, Javier Cueto Ramos is No. 41, and Christian Garay comes in at No. 63. Cueto Ramos and Regalado are No. 6 as a duo and Schold and Pietro Martinetti enters the tournament as the 13th ranked pair.
Cameron has made it a habit of making the NCAA Tournament, but they have not gotten past the first round since 2015 when then Cameron Hall of Fame head coach James Helvey's squad beat Merychurst 5-0 before falling to Barry by the same score in the next round.
Live scoring is available for all matches played in Florida thanks to Rollins College sports information. With an upset, Cameron would play in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 11 a.m. The semifinal is set for Saturday at 7 a.m. and then the final will be played Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center.
