BACK TO BACK CHAMPIONS! Pirates Outlast Barry, 5-4, In Epic Final

In a titanic championship match lasting exactly five hours, the No. 1-ranked and defending DII national champion Armstrong Atlantic State men's tennis team erased a 2-1 deficit in doubles to win, 5-4, over No. 2-ranked Barry and capture its second consecutive NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship on Saturday in Altamonte Springs.

The match came down to No. 5 singles, where sophomore Rafael Array and Barry's Roman Werschel played a three-set match to determine the title. Array won the first set, 6-4, but Werschel rallied to win the second set, 7-5, and set up one set for the title.

Array started off with a break, jumping out to a 2-1 lead. But the service game of the Spaniard was shaky during the middle games as he fought off several break points. at 4-3, Array held serve, then broke Werschel at 15-40 for championship point, sparking a mob pile on the courts as AASU celebrated the national title!

AASU's other singles winners were - Eudaldo Bonet at No.1 singles, beating Ales Svigelj, 7-6, 6-0; Mikk Irdoja, who knocked off Andrew Sharnov 6-2, 6-1, and Tim Johannsen, who defeated Jakub Fefjar, 6-4, 6-0.

The long match postponed the start of the Lady Pirates' championship match against Lynn - that match will now begin at 2:30 p.m. Time for the ladies to get it done!