Wichita State men win MVC tennis title on penalty point to end Drake rally

It always comes down to Wichita State and Drake in Missouri Valley Conference men’s tennis. That history creates an inevitable sense of drama and tension between two teams that aren’t fond of each other.

On Sunday afternoon, the crowd and the noise moved toward the No 6 singles match at Coleman Tennis Complex. WSU won the doubles point and the first two singles matches. Drake fought off elimination with three singles wins to put all the focus on No. 6 singles. The title would be decided there and it seemed so fitting.

“Last year we were one point away from winning, and obviously, that’s in your head,” Wichita State’s Sergio de Vilchez said.

Wichita State got the point this year, defeating Drake 4-3 on Sunday to win the MVC Championships and the automatic bid to the NCAAs. Vilchez defeated Ben Stride 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 with the winning point coming on a penalty after the line judge overruled a call by Stride.

A year ago in Belleville, Ill., Drake defeated WSU 4-3 in a match decided by a 7-6 decision in the third set at No. 4 single. Guillermo de Vilchez, who trailed 4-3 and served for the match at 5-4, lost. On Sunday, he watched Sergio, his younger brother, rally from losing the first set 6-0 and down 4-1 in the third set to clinch the title for WSU.

“I couldn’t have dreamed this one up,” WSU coach Brad Louderback said. “For Sergio to be the clincher, it’s just so rewarding.”

With WSU (17-10) up 30-15, Vilchez sent the Shockers into the NCAAs with a forehand to the right corner that Stride called out. Vilchez went to the umpire Kathy Schulte to protest the call. She overruled Stride for a third time, which triggered a point because players are allowed two overrules without penalty. With the forehand judged in and the penalty point, the Shockers celebrated.

“I thought the ball was close, but I was pretty sure it was in,” de Vilchez said. “It was a tough call, for her, too, because she’s calling a ball that decides the match.”

Vilchez rescued the Shockers after it appeared Drake (17-12) was going to win its third straight tournament and fifth in six seasons, all at the expense of the Shockers. After WSU won the doubles point, Haru Inoue and Eddie Stoica won singles matches to put the Shockers one win away from the title. Then the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches started to slip away, even after WSU’s Tin Ostojic and Miroslav Herzan won the first set.

An hour later, all the attention went to No. 6 singles with the title at stake.

“You try to not listen to everybody,” Vilchez said. “They were really loud, but I tried to foget what was happening outside and focus on the match.”

Stride went up 4-1 in the third set.

“Things looked great for us, up two breaks in the third set on the final court,” Drake coach Davidson Kozlowski said. “Sergio was making some easier mistakes to start the third set to give us that lead. Then he really cut his unforced errors down on the back half of that set. He didn’t make any silly mistakes and, unfortunately, we did.”

WSU won its 25th tournament, its first since 2013.

Drake and WSU combined to win 10 of the past 11 titles and the rivalry showed no signs of cooling. When the match ended, a fan yelled at a Drake athlete and stalked after him for a few steps. Drake took pictures with the second-place trophy and didn’t fake smiles. WSU celebrated by dousing Louderback with a cooler of ice water while the Bulldogs watched.

“They are the best enemy we have,” Vilchez said. “I think they behaved good this year. Last year was more drama.”

This year was plenty for the coaches.

“I don’t enjoy playing them,” Kozlowski said. “The tension that’s out there just isn’t enjoyable to be a part of.”

Both coaches accuse the other of poor sportsmanship, whether it’s a neglected handshake or a departure before the awards ceremony.

“I think it’s quite obvious, everyone (in the MVC) wanted us to win but Drake,” Louderback said. “They’ve got a reputation that’s not the best.”

WSU women win eighth straight MVC title — WSU’s women’s team defeated Southern Illinois 5-0 and the celebration was considerably more matter-of-fact than the one enjoyed by the men’s team.

The top-seeded Shockers (27-3) did what they were expected to do by cruising through the tournament with three 4-0 victories.

“It was nice that in the finals we played our strongest tennis of the weekend,” coach Colin Foster said. “Hopefully, that will give us some good momentum into this two weeks of training.”

WSU, ranked No. 28 nationally entering the weekend, remain in line for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA.

It set a program record with its 17th straight dual win and tied the program record for single-season wins.

The NCAA men’s and women’s fields are announced Tuesday at 4 p.m. WSU will hold a watch party at Koch Arena and the public is invited.

This story was originally published May 1, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Wichita State men win MVC tennis title on penalty point to end Drake rally."