No. 3 doubles team wins consolation final at national tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team finished the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament with a win.

The No. 3 doubles team of Enric Porcar and Jaewoo Choi claimed the Consolation Final title Thursday afternoon, picking up two straight wins. The pair defeated Mesa Community College's Andrew Hoffman and Duncan Mulenga 8-3 in the consolation semifinals, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and won the final three points to advance to the final.

Then the Titans played Saulk Valley Community College's Jared Mitchell and Jon Rhodes, posting an 8-2 win as Porcar served out the win.

"The first day was tough with the loss, but I think after that we played well and won the title," Porcar said.

It was the second time in Titans history that a team has won the consolation final in doubles.

The day began with Lucas Gonzalez, Lluc Pasqual Camps and Corentin Venot all playing in singles semifinal matches.

All three fell short but it marked the second straight season the Titans have had at least three players in the national tournament semifinals.

Gonzalez, playing No. 1 singles, battled the No. 1 seed Takeshi Taco from Cowley Community College who heads to the final winning every match in straight sets.

Gonzalez fell 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals but the freshman from Argentina made a good run as the No. 4 seed in the tournament.

Camps played No. 1 seed Jakob Mosvold from Tyler Junior College in one of the No. 5 singles semifinals and the two had a close battle as Camps battled back from a 1-4 deficit to tie the match at 4-4 before Mosvold held serve and then got a break to win the first set.

The second set was back and forth throughout with Mosvold once again getting a break to end the match.

The Barcelona, Spain native wrapped up his national tournament with a 2-1 record.

Venot played No. 1 seed Andoni Garmendia at No. 6 singles and lost in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. After losing the first set, Venot was leading early in the second set but Garmendia won the final four points to win the match.

The No. 2 doubles team of Gonzalez and George Myers Millington won their consolation semifinal match against Mesa Community College's Austreberto Carlon and Cameron Khan 8-2.

They advanced to the Consolation Final where they faced Pratt Community College's David Arrieta and Danta Despontin. Pratt jumped out to a 6-3 lead but the Titans bounced back with a break and then held serve to make it 6-5. The key point to the match happened at that point as the two teams traded blows through five deuce points until Pratt picked up the win and went on to claim the Consolation Final.

The Titans finish the national tournament with 23.5 points, good for seventh place overall.