Williamsburg, KY – With the regular season and MSC tournament wrapped up, the Patriots set their sights on Mobile, Al. for the opening round of the NAIA Men's Tennis National Tournament. The Patriots find themselves in familiar territory as they have made it to the tournament three of the past four seasons. UC is set to take on Mobile in their opening round, looking to repeat their success from a year ago when they advanced into the second round.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
UC posted a record of 22-5 during the regular season while finishing second within the Mid-South during both the regular season and MSC tournament. Cumberlands finished the season 9-1 in conference play while grabbing six wins over ranked opponents and notching the program's first ever win over a Division I opponent when they defeated Austin Peay in a 7-0 sweep.
Cumberlands put together a strong showing no matter where they played, going 9-1 at home while posting a 4-1 mark on the road and 9-3 in neutral site contests. UC's 9-1 mark inside their friendly confines was the second best in the MSC while their record of 4-1 on the road ended up being second best as well.
The Patriots finished the campaign strong, winning 16 of their last 18 contests while going on an 11-match win streak. Cumberlands was no stranger to breaking out the brooms during that stretch of solid play as 14 of their 16 wins in the run came via the sweep. Their hot stretch helped the team win seven bouts in a row against MSC opponents, helping them grab the #2 spot in the Mid-South.
ACCOLADES AND RECORDS
Cumberlands saw a new milestone in the early portion of their season with senior Martin Barbier surpassing 50 wins in both singles and doubles play, becoming the first Patriot men's tennis player to do so. During the MSC Fall Invite. Barbier came into the 2021-22 season as the most decorated player in program history and added to that as he holds the record for wins in both singles and doubles while adding four more Mid-South Player of the Week honors to his resumé.
Joining Martin as a recipient of the MSC Player of the Week award was Mattis Le Montagner who won the award twice during the season. Montagner also joined Barbier as a member of the All-MSC First Team alongside fellow Patriots Martin Muller, giving UC the most first team members in the Mid-South with three. Cumberlands also had three other players make all-conference teams for a conference-leading six honorees as Luis Montull and Hung-Ju Wu were named second teasers while Christian de la Fuente Nodado was an honorable mention. The team's depth showed itself in their numbers as five Patriots tailed 30 or more total wins on the year for a new program record.
POSTSEASON PERSPECTIVE
The Patriots were able to advance to the championship match of the Mid-South Tournament thanks to sweeps over both Georgetown and #16 Cumberland University. The Patriots received a first round bye as the #2 seed in the tournament before going on to play in a repeat of last year's championship match against #7 Lindsey Wilson, falling to the Blue Raiders 4-1.
Cumberlands will play Mobile in their opening round matchup on Tuesday, May 17th, at 8:30 a.m. with the winner set to take on Xavier (La.) in the second round the following day.
The NAIA Men's National Tennis Tournament is a single elimination format with 24 total teams that will take place in Mobile, Al. that will begin on May 17th and will take place through the 21st.
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