SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The top-seeded Barry Buccaneers finally looked like the juggernaut they are in a 5-0 sweep of the fourth-ranked West Florida Argonauts to win the 2018 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championship.
After falling behind after doubles for the two previous matches, the Buccaneers rolled to a 3-0 lead after doubles and never looked back.
"It's an amazing feeling," Barry head coach Avi Kigel said. "We struggled throughout this tournament and didn't play our best tennis, but today, considering the conditions, we played pretty well. It was a great performance and I'm so proud of the players to keep their composure and handle the conditions to play our best tennis."
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #1 Barry 5, #4 West Florida 0
Records: Barry (28-0), West Florida (31-4)
The Buccaneers, who had dropped two of three doubles in both the quarterfinal and semifinal, muscled their way to a 3-0 doubles sweep.
DOUBLES:
- Top-ranked Sonja Larsen and Verena Schmid got the Bucs on the right track with a very quick 8-3 win over Ines Nicault and Lais Bicca at No. 1 doubles.
- Zuza Maciejewska and Carolin Schmidt were nearly as quick winning 8-3 over Jordana Lujan and Samantha Echevarria at No. 3
- No. 2 doubles provided the only measure of drama in the match. West Florida's Paula Coyos and Valeria Mantilla went up 5-2 on Julie Razafindranaly and Hannah Seizer. But the Bucs rallied back to win nine of the next 11 games for a 9-7 win.
The Buccaneers, whose powerful singles lineup led to comeback victories in the previous two matches, could not be denied with the big lead. The Bucs won first sets at five of the six matches.
SINGLES:
- Thirty-fourth-ranked Schmid got the first point in singles, taking down #65 Nicault 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2.
- Razafindranaly closed out the match 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 over Heather Mixon and the celebration could begin.
- Fifth-ranked Larsen narrowly missed winning her match over #26 Coyos. The players were in the midst of match point when word came down about Razafindranaly, so despite finishing the point and winning, Larsen was denied the victory.
NOTEWORTHY:
- The Bucs claimed their fourth national championship, all coming within the last eight years, and the second straight.
- The fourth title ties Barry with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville for the third-most in Division II history.
- The title is the 19th in program history and breaks the tie with men's tennis, women's soccer, men's golf and volleyball for the most championships.
- The championship is also the 103rd title won by the Sunshine State Conference, "The Conference of National Champions."
- Barry improved its winning streak to 58 matches, a school record.
- Larsen is now 8-1 against ranked opponents this season and finishes her career with an 83-6 record. She has the most singles wins in program history and the second-best winning percentage.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
"We were down 5-2, because we were just trying to put the ball in the court with the conditions so rough. So we had to make a change or we would definitely lose. I went to Hannah (Seizer) and told her we had to go to the net more and put pressure on them and it worked. I carried that over into the singles match, just trying to put as much pressure on her as I could to play fast and it worked."
-- Barry freshman Julie Razafindranaly
BOX SCORE
