INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Lion is widely known as "King of the Jungle," but Sunday afternoon the Lions became "Kings of the tennis court," as the third-seeded #3 Saint Leo University Men's tennis team defeated eighth-seeded and host #7 UIndy 4-1 at the UIndy Tennis to be crowned the 2023 ITA National Indoor Champions.
 
It was only fitting the National Championship win was also Head Coach Chad Berryhill's 400th career win.  "I've been blessed to have a great career and truly awesome student-athletes to coach; love them all!"
 
The Finals began with the Doubles matches, as the Greyhounds bested the Lions in two of the three matches to grab the first overall point.  The duo of Sophomore Vincent Thiel and Fifth-year Ghali Mensour fell shy to #1 ranked Tom Zeuch and Edgar Destouet 7-5 before Junior Ivan Marrero and Graduate Tao Bernal Castillo defeated August Ehrnrooth and Louis Picaud 6-3.  UIndy's Jason Gerweck and Nickolaj Talimaa won the deciding Doubles match 6-1 over Senior Nicolas Bacella and Junior Luis Iriarte 6-1.
 
Saint Leo responded in kind, roaring through the Singles matches to sweep UIndy and leaving two matches unfinished.  Junior Ivan Marrero bested Destouet 7-5 and 6-2, who is ranked ninth in the Midwest region. 
 
Fifth-year Martin Soukal went toe-to-toe with Zeuch, ranked 28th nationally, and bested the fourth-best player in the Midwest region with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win.
 
Thiel bested Talimaa 6-3, 6-3 before Iriarte clinched the national title for the Lions with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ehrnrooth.
 
"Another great battle today and just an overall terrific college tennis match" said Berryhill.  "Doubles was tight and we had a match point, but luckily not having the Doubles point momentum didn't hurt us.  Our singles line-up is very strong and we went on court with no doubts.  Super proud of our guys for handling a very tough environment playing UIndy on their homecourts and with their fans going crazy.  All the hard work is paying off and I'm super proud of these guys that they call themselves National Champions; we will cherish this one! GO LEO!"
 
The Lions will have a few weeks away from action before travelling to Valdosta, Ga. March 4th for a neutral site match against Auburn Montgomery.  First serve is set for 3 p.m.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on Saint Leo Men's Tennis, visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.