ROME, Ga. – No. 1 seeded Gustavus men’s tennis standout Mohanad Alhouni (Sr., Tripoli, Libya) defeated Daniel Levine of Carnegie Mellon University 6-4, 6-4 Saturday morning at Rome Tennis Center at Berry College to capture the 2017 ITA Oracle Cup Singles Championship.
Coming in as the No. 1 seed in the Oracle Cup Division III Singles Draws, Alhouni took down Jeremy Yuan of the University of Chicago and No. 4 seed Jonathan Jemison of Emory prior to the finals victory over No. 2 seed Levine to become the second ever Gustie to earn the ITA singles title. John Kauss was the first Gustavus men’s tennis player to claim the ITA singles title in 2008.
“Mo played another excellent match today,” said Head Coach Tommy Valentini. “In a big moment against a first class opponent, he was able to execute his game plan, and stay calm and poised when things got tough. It’s an incredibly difficult tournament to win, and he’s thrilled and honored to bring a national title home. It’s a great accomplishment for him and our team.”
The doubles pair of Alhouni and Patrick Whaling (Jr., Manikob Sabot, Va.) fell in the consolation final 4-6, 6-7 versus Bouchet/Wanner of Emory. Their sixth place finish is good for a second consecutive All-America doubles honor.
“I think Mohanad would be the first to tell you that all of our guys have played an important role in this accomplishment for him, Patrick’s presence this week exemplified that,” Valentini commented.
With the singles title, Alhouni earns an automatic qualification to the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, taking place Nov. 1-5 in Indian Wells, California. Learn more HERE.
“We are all excited and grateful for his exciting and rare opportunity to play in the Division 1 tournament next month,” Valentini concluded.
We have our DIII men’s singles #OracleCup champion! @GACMensTennis Mohanad Al Houni earns a spot in #ITAFallNats! pic.twitter.com/24JyJsDory
— ITA Tennis (@ITA_Tennis) October 14, 2017
|
Head to the ITA Oracle Cup event page to view draws, daily recaps, photo gallery links, as well as find live scoring information. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter by following @ITA_Tennis and using the hashtag #OracleCup. |