Chevez Wins Third GPAC Crown

Doane Tennis opened the 2022-23 season a week later than anticipated due to rain last weekend. The Tigers took on the rest of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) on Friday and Saturday in the GPAC Individual Championships. Doane walked away with two championships and a runner-up on the weekend.

Jorge Chevez won his third GPAC Men's Singles "A" Division championship, going 3-0 on the weekend. The top seed in the bracket, he received a bye in the opening round and defeated Joao Costa of Morningside, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. 

The semifinals saw a familiar face in teammate Jose Purizaca (SO/Lima, Peru). Purizaca defeated the fourth seed, Brian VandenBerg of Northwestern, 8-1, in the opening round and Luca Struffi of Midland, 6-4, 6-2. Chevez won the semifinal match, 6-1, 6-0, over his doubles partner to advance to the championship where he faced the cinderella of the bracket, Mark Trenkle of Morningside. Trenkle knocked off the second and third seeds in the tournament on his way to face Chevez.

The championship match was decided in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, in Chevez' favor.

In the Men's Doubles "A" Division, Chevez and Purizaca teammed up to win the title. It was the third for Chevez, all with a different partner, and the first for Purizaca. The road to the title was not easy, winning the opening match 7-6 (7-2). The quarterfinal match went to the Tiger duo, 7-5. In the semifinals, they defeated the Morningside team of Costa and Jaime Maza Martin, 6-4. The finals resulted in a 6-3 win over Midland's Struffi and Tycho Janssen.

The top finish on the women's side came from Kailyn Groski (SR/Papillion, Neb.) as she took runner up honors in the Women's Singles "D" Division. She opened with a win over Jessica Wilson of Northwestern, 8-2. In the quarterfinals, Nathania Smith of Northwestern fell to Groski, 8-2. Lauren Gottberg of Concordia took on Groski in the semifinals. The final score was 8-6 to Groski. In the finals, another Bulldog stood in Groski's way, Kylie Freudenberg. The final score was identical, 8-6, but went to  Freudenberg.