Dasha Vidmanova's stellar collegiate career ended with a historic accomplishment, when the University of Georgia defeated defending champion Texas A&M 4-0 Sunday evening in the NCAA Division I Team Championships at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco Texas.
After a 40-minute delay for lightning, the senior from the Czech Republic set the tone for the Bulldogs, beating rival and nemesis Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M 6-4, 6-4 to give her team its first singles point en route to Georgia's third NCAA title.
Stoiana, who had beaten Vidmanova in the Aggies 4-1 win over Georgia in 2024 and had two wins over Vidmanova in their most recent meetings, had taken an early 3-0 lead in today's match, but could not find a way past her today. Vidmanova is just the third player in NCAA women's history to win all three NCAA titles--singles, doubles and team--in her collegiate career. The spring 2024 doubles champion and fall 2024 singles champion now joins Stanford's Linda Gates and Nicole Gibbs on that very short list.
Vidmanova, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, did not get a decision in doubles in the final, with Georgia taking lines 2 and 3 to forge a 1-0 lead.
Georgia's Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata were first off the court, beating Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov 6-2. The other two lines were much closer, but it was Georgia's Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry who got the late break to defeat Nicole Khirin and Lucciana Perez 7-5 at line 3.
Texas A&M had beaten Georgia after losing the doubles point in the final match of the SEC regular season, so there was still optimism on their side, but their early advantage, with 3-0 leads on three courts in singles, didn't last. Texas A&M took three first sets in singles, but Georgia's Mert kept the Aggies from an obvious path when she saved four set points serving at 5-6 and went on to save another before taking the first tiebreaker 9-7. That gave Georgia its third first set in singles, and before that first set had ended, Reasco had forced a split with Mia Kupres at line 3.
Texas A&M was unable to close out any of their three matches in which they had won the first set, with Georgia also getting splits from Lopata at line 2 in her match with Khirin and at line 6, with Sofia Rojas versus Reed at line 6.
The Aggies eventually got a split of their own at line 5, with Smetannikov taking the second set from Grant, but by that time Vidmanova had made it 2-0 for Georgia. With so many third sets, there was still a chance for a Texas A&M comeback, but once Lopata posted Georgia's third point with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Khirin, who had clinched the Aggies NCAA title last year, prospects dimmed considerably.
It was Rojas, in her first year as a Bulldog after transfering from Oklahoma State, who delivered Georgia's first title since 2000, beating freshman Reed 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
"I'm really proud of this team," Georgia head coach Drake Bernstein told ESPN's Jill Craybas after the match. "I couldn't ask for a better group, and I couldn't be happier for these four seniors to go out like that."
Bernstein has had an astounding start to his coaching career after taking over for Jeff Wallace at the start of the 2023-24 season. Last May in Stillwater, Georgia made the team final, Lopata reached the singles final and Vidmanova and Mert took the doubles title. Last November, Vidmanova won the NCAA singles title, and this year, Georgia has claimed both the ITA Team Indoor Championship and the NCAA Team Championship.
Vidmanova, Reasco, Grant and Mai Nirundorn, who was injured and out for the season, are the seniors Bernstein was referring to, and, unlike last year, the Bulldogs will have spots to fill, but this season can certainly vault to the top of the list of best in Georgia history.
Georgia[1] d. Texas A&M[2] 4-0
Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) v Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-5, unf.
2. Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-2
3. Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) d. Nicole Khirin and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 7-5
Order of finish: 2,3
Singles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) d. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Mia Kupres(TAMU) v Mell Reasco(UGA) 6-3, 1-6, 5-4, unf.
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) v Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 7-6(9), 5-5 unf.
5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) v Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-1, 6-7(5), 2-1 unf.
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,2,6
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photo courtesy YourGameFace.com ©2025 |
This was the first year since 1996 that both the men's and women's NCAA finals were a rematch of the ITA National Indoor finals. That year, the Florida women swept the titles, but the Stanford men got their revenge on Team Indoor champions UCLA.
Wake Forest didn't follow that example this year, instead they had their own history to replicate, winning their second NCAA Division I Team championship the same year they won the Team Indoor title with a hard-fought 4-2 win over defending champion TCU late Sunday night in Waco.
Wake Forest, who won the Indoor and NCAA titles in 2018, their first of each, took the scenic route at the Hurd Tennis Center, as they had done all year, but when it counted, the Demon Deacons got pulled through to record their 40th victory of the year, against only one loss.
Wake Forest took the doubles point with surprising ease, with Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi needing a mere 26 minutes to race past Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico at line 3. Five minutes later, Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson beat Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick 6-3 at line 2, leaving the Horned Frogs wondering what had hit them.
Wake took four first sets in singles,with all six first sets finishing within five minutes of one another. TCU was faced with needing two three-set victories to defend their title, but they appeared undaunted by the prospect and Wake Forest couldn't get a foothold in any second set, with one exception.
That was at line 1, where Dostanic, who had clinched the Team Indoor title this year with a 6-4 in the third victory over Pinnington Jones in the last match on, was on another level. The graduate student, who spent his undergraduate career at USC, posted the second point for Wake Forest with a 6-3, 6-1 master class.
But by that time, TCU had earned splits at lines 5 and 6, with Pedrico forcing a third over Tacchi at 5 and Chan taking Pow to a third set at 6.
A third split was in Wake's favor, with Robertson pulling even with Woestendick; the fourth split gave TCU another path, with Vives forcing a third with DK Suresh at line 2.
While Maxted and Wake's Ioannis Xilas battled into a second set tiebreaker at line 3, Pedrico put TCU on the board with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tacchi at line 5. A minute later however, Pow made it 3-1 Wake Forest with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win over Chan at 6.
Maxted finally managed to put away Xilas 6-1, 7-6(3) in just under two hours, leaving the match to be decided in third sets at lines 2 and 4. Although Wake was in a similar spot in the semifinals Saturday, the two remaining third sets were all even, with Wake unable to jump out to third-set leads as they had done against Stanford. Both matches were 3-3 in the third when Maxted won, with Suresh and Robertson holding to go up 4-3, Suresh staying ahead by winning a deciding point. Vives saved two break points serving at 3-4 but lost the deciding point, while Robertson broke Woestendick at 30-40, giving the Demon Deacons two chances to serve for the title.
Suresh got there first, crushing an ace at 40-0 to seal the second NCAA team title for Wake Forest.
"I think for me this is so much more about our program," Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky told ESPN's Luke Jensen after the match. "All the players, the fans, the sports staff, my family, all our families; we have some of the most loyal fans and families and players that I've ever seen. They all deserve it...it's been a beautiful journey for me. Our guys bring it every day, they have the right attitudes, they want to be professional tennis players and they work that way, and are great people."
Like Georgia, Wake Forest will need to replace key parts, including Dostanic, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, but with their success this year, they have a firm foundation on which to build.
Wake Forest[1] d. TCU[2] 4-2
Doubles:
1. DK Suresh and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) v Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted(TCU) 5-4, unf.
2. Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson(WAKE) v Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-3
3. Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles:
1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) d. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) 6-3, 6-1
2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Pedro Vives(TCU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) 6-1, 7-6(3)
4. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) v Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 3-6, 6-2, 5-3, unf.
5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Duncan Chan(TCU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,5,6,3,2
All Tournament Teams
WOMEN:
Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Meel Reasco, Georgia
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant, Georgia
3. Ayesegul Mert and Hayden Mulberrym Georgia
Singles
1. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia
2. Anastasiia Lopata, Georgia
3. Mia Kupres, Texas A&M
4. Ayesegul Mert, Georgia
5. Guillermina Grant, Georgia
6. Sofia Rojas, Georgia
Most Outstanding Player: Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia
MEN:
Doubles:
1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives, TCU
2. Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson, Wake Forest
3. Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi, Wake Forest
Singles:
1. Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest
2. DK Suresh, Wake Forest
3. Lui Maxted, TCU
4. Henry von der Schulenburg, Stanford
5. Sebastian Eriksson, Texas
6. Luca Pow, Wake Forest
Most Outstanding Player: Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest
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The four USTA Pro Circuit tournaments concluded today, with 23-year-old Ayana Akli earning her first Pro Circuit singles title at the
W35 in Bethany Beach Delaware, ending a five-week odyssey that saw her post 18 wins and only four losses.
The former South Carolina All-American, who was unseeded, defeated top seed Despina Papamichail in the quarterfinals and after a tough win over NCAA contempory Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) in the semifinals, beat No. 3 seed Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 6-2, 7-5 in today's final.
Top seed Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador won the M25 in Pensacola Florida today, defeating No. 4 seed Alex Rybakov(TCU) 6-4, 6-4 to defend his title. The 26-year-old, who played No. 3 for the Gators on the 2021 NCAA Championship team, had competed exclusively in Challengers this year until this week.
The singles titles at the W15 and M15 in Orlando were firsts for the champions, who came into the events with contrasting status. No. 1 seed and UCLA recruit Mayu Crossley won her first Pro Circuit title, with the 18-year-old from Japan defeating No. 2 seed Francesca Pace of Italy 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in today's final. Crossley was playing her fourth week in a row and her sixth week in the past seven, with her best results during that time two W35 quarterfinals.
Chris (Kuang Qing) Xu, a rising sophomore at North Carolina, had to qualify in Orlando, with the 18-year-old from Canada winning seven matches to earn his first Pro Circuit title. Xu defeated top seed Dan Martin(Dartmouth, Miami) 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals after two three-set victories, and today took out No. 8 seed Victor Lilov 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 in the final.
No. 4 seeds Martin and Nicolas Arseneault of Canada won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Ryan Dickerson(Duke, Baylor) and Andrew Fenty(Michigan) 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final.
The women's doubles title went to No. 3 seeds Samantha Alicea(Arizona State, Nebraska) and Jamilah Snells(Louisville), who beat the unseeded junior team of Ava Rodriguez and Capucine Jauffret 6-3, 7-5.