Men's tennis team places third at the national tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's tennis team finished third for the second straight season at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament at Colin College in Texas.

Sophomore Hugo Car won the national title at No. 1 singles, defeating Tyler Junior College's Juan Carlos Garcia in the final to claim the title.

Car jumped out to a commanding 5-2 start in the first set, but Garcia battled back to cut the lead to 5-4. Car would force deuce and on the third deuce, he was able to get the win, 6-4.

The second set was a highly-contested set with strong shots and long rallies. Six of the points went to a deuce and down 4-5, Car was able to tie it up 5-5, then hold serve to take the 6-5 lead. He continued to play well, getting the break and the victory.

"It was a tough match, I played him in March and won but this was different conditions and different courts so it was not a good thing for me. He played well," Car said. "I am really happy with my match."

Car won every match in the tournament in straight sets and has been the No. 1 player in the ITA JUCO rankings all season long.

Nick DeVivo and Tomas Quesada Perez were also in the finals in singles, both falling short of a title but were the runner-ups at No. 3 and No. 4 singles.

DeVivo played Tyler Junior College's Alex Despoja and traded points with the No. 1 seed early in the first set, but Despoja would score the final three points to win the first set 6-3.

DeVivo battled back in the second set, holding serve for a 6-5 lead but Despoja would tie things at 6-6. The tiebreaker was tight throughout but Despoja hit the key shots down the stretch to pick up the win.

Quesada Perez lost to Tyler Junior College's Dan Persson and traded points for the entire first set, having chances to get the upper hand but Persson would force a tiebreaker at 6-6.

Things remained close in the tiebreaker until Persson scored the final three points to take the win. From there Persson won the second set 6-2.

The No. 3 doubles team of Quesada Perez and Alexandr Achour won their semifinal match on Friday in straight sets, defeating Colin College's Enrique Doldan Sisa and Luke Stula Takumi 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the afternoon's final.

In the final, they played Cowley College's Alejandro Gonzalez and Omar Suarez and lost in a thrilling third set tiebreaker 10-8.

The Titans duo opened with a commanding first set win, taking control with a 6-3 win. The second set saw the Titans trail 3-4, but took a 5-4 lead and had a chance to put the match away, but Cowley tied it 5-5 and from there went on to win the second set, forcing a tiebreaker.

The Titans trailed the tiebreaker early but found their way back into it with some incredible shots, tying things 8-8. But in the end, Cowley prevailed 10-8 to win the title.

The No. 2 doubles team of DeVivo and Colin Tavares also had a close match in the semifinals Friday morning, facing Cowley's Pedro De La Riva and Valentin Greco. The first set was tight throughout and were leading 6-5 when they would force a deuce but Cowley hung on to force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Cowley took the early advantage and picked up the first set win.

The Titans would fall in the second set 6-3.

Tyler Junior College won the national title, two points ahead of Cowley with the Titans third.