April 22, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The third-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team won the program's fourth consecutive NAIA Region XIV title with a 5-1 win over ninth-ranked Savannah College of Art and Design on Saturday. Mislav Hizak, Konstantin Lazarov and Tomoaki Yasuda each played their final home matches of their Embry-Riddle careers and will leave as the only class to win four regional crowns.

With the win, the Eagles, who are now 16-2 on the year, received an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship being held in Mobile, Ala., May 12-16.

After falling behind 4-2, the tandem of Mislav Hizak and Konstantin Lazarov rebounded to top Jan Menzen and Dima Chiriacov 8-5 at the top spot. The Bees tied things up at No. 2 as Ofir Weintraub and Willy Frei topped Luke Maricic and Jan Hoekzema 8-6.

The match at No. 3 doubles was very closely contested and in the end it was the ERAU duo of Carlos Bes Comeras and Tomoaki Yasuda who pulled out the 9-8 win over Fernando Horcasitas and Pablo Velez after winning the tie-breaker 7-5.

Bes Comeras and Yasuda carried the momentum from their doubles win into singles play. Bes Comeras was the first to finish his match as he downed Frei 6-2, 6-1 at the third position. Yasuda, who was banged up after taking a tumble during doubles, played through pain and defeated Mihai Draganescu 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot.

Just a few minutes later Hizak, the three-time Florida Sun Conference and Region XIV Player of the Year, extended his unbeaten streak against NAIA opponents by scoring the clincher at No. 1 with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Menzen.

By virtue of their top 10 ranking, the Bees (9-6) should also earn a spot in the 24-team national tournament field.