Both Top Seeds and Defending Champions Fall After Holding 3-1 Leads in NCAA Division I Team Championships on Historic Semifinal Saturday in Athens

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Athens GA--

Semifinal Saturday delivered not just another day of perfect weather, but three 4-3 thrillers and the exit of both top seeds and defending champions, while a new face will play for its first national title Sunday evening.

The day started with a bang, with No. 2 seed Texas taking out No. 6 seed TCU 4-3, with the match coming down to Sebastian Gorzny and Duncan Chan at line 1.

Chan and Gorzny were teammates in 2024 when Gorzny clinched for the Horned Frogs in their 4-3 win over Texas in the National Championship match in Oklahoma; two days later Gorzny announced he was transferring to Texas, where he has risen to the No. 1 position for the Longhorns in his senior year.

Although that match in Stillwater was certainly dramatic, with TCU's first NCAA title on the line and no other court still going, in today's 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, Gorzny arguably topped it, saving two match points with Chan serving at 5-3 40-30 and then three more on his own serve at 5-6, 15-40.

On the deciding point with Chan serving, Gorzny sprinted for a backhand, passing a confidently approaching Chan, while tumbling to the court behind the baseline. Although Gorzny turned it into a celebration, the 22-year-old from Texas admitted that was accidental.

"I got lucky on that little pass, rolled my ankle, and I was out," Gorzny said. "If it wasn't a winner I'd lost the match. But once I got the break back there, I got some more confidence, felt a little better, and started playing better."

Gorzny raised his level again at 15-40, although Chan contributed two errors with a Gorzny service winner sandwiched in between. Gorzny dominated the tiebreaker and took a 3-0 lead in the third, but all that would have been for naught without help from his teammate Kalin Ivanovski.

After TCU had taken the doubles point, Texas got a win from Oliver Ojakaar over Oliver Bonding at line 4 to tie it, and with TCU's Roger Pascual taking a point at line 6 and Texas's Sebastian Eriksson winning at line 3, the score was 2-all with both teams needing two of the three remaining matches. 

All were in third sets, with Gorzny holding the only lead, but TCU's Albert Pedrico closed out Abel Forger to turn the attention to court 2, where Ivanovski was battling with Cosme Rolland De Ravel. While they entered a tiebreaker, Gorzny was saving break points to hold on to his break, and when Ivanovski took a 5-2 lead, Texas's prospects looked good. But Ivanovski lost both his serves to allow Rolland De Ravel back in. The TCU senior missed a forehand wide however to give Ivanovski a match point, and Ivanovski was the recipient of another forehand error to make it 3-all.

"When I saw Gorzny save all those match points, I was at the start of the third set and that really boosted me," said Ivanovski, a freshman from Macedonia. "Seeing him really helped me a lot, changed the momentum and gave me a boost. At the end it was a really tough battle, Cosme's a really good player."

Gorzny said it wasn't his clinch for the NCAA title two years ago that gave him the experience he needed to take control of the match today, but rather a loss during the season.

"Earlier this year I was in a 3-all match against LSU and I was up 5-2 in the third and I ended up losing 5-7," Gorzny said. "I completely choked it. I learned a lot from that match and I actually thought about that and how to handle this moment....I'd never lost a big match up to that moment in my college career, I always came through in the clutch moments, that was the first time when I fell apart and choked. If that didn't happen, maybe I wouldn't have known how to handle my emotions in this moment."

Head coach Bruce Berque commended his team on their comeback from the loss of the doubles point and 3-2 down. 

"We were down and out many times," said Berque. "Most notably Sebastian Gorzny, who saved multiple match points, showing the composure, the resilience and the toughness. Ivanovski was super impressive and to win 1, 2, 3 and 4 against TCU is no small task. I'm really proud of our team."

Texas[2] 4 TCU[6] 3

Doubles:

1. Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland De Ravel(TCU) d. Kalin Ivanovski and Abel Forger(TEX) 6-3

2. Albert Pedrico and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Lucas Marionneau and Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-3

3. Oliver Ojakaar and Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Oliver Bonding and Maximus Dussault(TCU) 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Duncan Chan(TCU) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3

2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) v Cosme Rolland De Ravel(TCU) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5)

3. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 7-6(3), 6-3

4. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Oliver Bonding(TCU) 6-1, 6-3

5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Abel Forger(TEX) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2

6. Roger Pascual(TCU) d. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) 6-3, 6-0

Order of finish: 4, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1

As if the first men's semifinal wasn't enough excitement, the second one between top seed and defending champion Wake Forest and No. 4 seed Virginia was also 4-3, the first time in NCAA men's history that both semifinals went the distance.

Although Texas's win required a comeback, it was minor compared with the rally Virginia staged Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers, like Texas, lost the doubles point, but they also dropped five first sets in singles. After suffering two losses to Wake Forest this year, prospects weren't promising, although head coach Andres Pedroso never doubted his team could come back.

"I told the guys and I told the Atlanta Wahoos in an email yesterday, we lost 4-2 both matches, but we were points away," Pedroso said. "When we left those facilities I said 'guys, if that's the best team in the country, we're right there.' These guys saw it through today. This is a different event, it's a new season, everyone cleans the slate."

Virginia did get the first singles point on the board, with Dylan Dietrich beating DK Suresh at line 1 in three quick sets, before Wake's  Kacper Szymkowiak took out Mans Dahlberg at line 6. When Wake Forest freshman Mees Rottgering beat Keegan Rice at line 2 to make it 3-1, Wake had a chance to wrap up their trip to the final with Aryan Shah serving for the match at line 4 against Andres Santamarta at 6-3, 6-5. But Shah didn't get to match point, Santamarta won the subsequent tiebreaker and the Cavaliers got a breaks at lines 3 and 5 to energize the large contingent of Virginia fans in the auxiliary stands behind courts 4 and 5.

Virginia's Stiles Brockett made it 3-2 with 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 win at line 5, and when Jangjun Kim held on a deciding point against Luca Pow at line 3 to take a 5-2 lead in the third, the exhale from the Virginia fans was audible.

Santamarta, who had clinched the Cavaliers 4-1 win over Mississippi State Thursday, looked dialed in down the stretch, and both he and Kim arrived at match point at the same time. Kim converted his first, but wasn't aware of it his teammate's fate, with the bank of seats between courts 3 and 4 blocking his view.

"I didn't even look at the scoreboard," said Kim, a sophomore from Korea. "I didn't know. I just finished my match and ran to Santa's court and it had just finished."

Santamarta had broken for a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 victory and the muted celebration from the former ITF Junior No. 1 showed the maturity that he's gained in his first semester in Charlottesville.

Pedroso said that comebacks like this one were par for the course this year.

"We've come back from losing five or six sets this year, three or four times, so it doesn't feel that uncomfortable," Pedroso said. "Because we've done it, I know these guys can turn it; we're definitely fit enough, and it's kind of weird, maybe in the past I would have doubted a little bit, but I always feel like these guys have a chance. The longer the match goes, the better these guys get and the tougher they are."

Virginia[4] 4, Wake Forest[1] 3

Doubles:

1. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado(WAKE) d. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 6-3

2. Mees Rottgering and Kacper Szymkowiak(WAKE) d. Andres Santamarta and Jangjun Kim(UVA) 6-4

3. Luca Pow and Aryan Shah(WAKE) d. Stiles Brockett and Keegan Rice(UVA) 5-4, unf.

Singles:

1. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. DK Suresh(WAKE) 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 

2. Mees Rottgering(WAKE) d. Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-4, 6-3

3. Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Luca Pow(WAKE) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2

4. Andres Santamarta(UVA) d. Aryan Shah(WAKE) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4

5. Stiles Brockett(UVA) d. Joaquin Guilleme(WAKE) 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 

6. Kacper Szymkowiak(WAKE) d. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 2, 5, 3, 4

The history made with two 4-3 men's semifinals couldn't overshadow what women's No. 2 seed Auburn accomplished throughout this week. In the program's first trip to the quarterfinals, the Tigers have now reached the final, delivering a comprehensive 4-1 victory over No. 3 seed Ohio State Saturday afternoon.

Unlike yesterday, when Auburn won the doubles point but lost five first sets in singles in their 4-1 win over LSU, they came out after a dominant doubles point, got four first sets in singles and never looked back.

Ohio State tied the score with Teah Chavez beating DJ Bennett 6-1, 6-0 in less than an hour on court 1, but Auburn did not relinquish control and in fact accelerated through second sets at lines 6 and 4.

Ava Esposito defeated Alessia Cau 7-5, 6-0 at line 6 to make it 2-1 and both Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat were up breaks in their second sets. Okutoyi defeated Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev 6-4, 6-3 at 3, just as Refaat was serving at 6-4, 5-2 against Audrey Spencer at line 4.

Although the freshman from Egypt had not played yesterday, she showed no signs of rust or nerves in that often tense situation, going up 40-0. She netted a forehand on the first match point, but Spencer sent a forehand long on the second, sending Auburn into the final.

When asked if she had any difficulty playing for the first time in today's semifinal, as she was pulled from the lineup Friday, Refaat sounded as relaxed as she looked when serving out the match ten minutes before.

"Not really," Refaat said. "I think it's all mental and for me to think the right things, the right thoughts, and have no doubt, no fear, going for my shots. I feel everyone around me supporting me and believing in me...I didn't feel any nerves or anything."

Although the rise of the Auburn program since Jordan Szabo took the reins two years ago has been a remarkably quick one, the former Texas A&M associate head coach is certain his team will not be satisfied with just reaching the final.

"In the locker room the girls made a vision board, I think that's the term for it, it has 'win the national title,' it doesn't have make the national final," Szabo said. "We're here to win it, and we've been singing that since day one in the fall and the spring and while I'm the coach at Auburn that's what we're going to be shooting for, that's going to be our No. 1 goal. Some years we might not have the team for it, but if you're not shooting for the stars, what are we doing?"

Auburn[2] 4 Ohio State[3] 1

Doubles:

1. DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) 6-3

2. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-1

3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) v Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers(AUB) 4-4, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:

1. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-1, 6-0

2. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(OSU) v Luciana Perry(OSU) 5-7, 5-3, unf.

3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Merna Refaat(AUB) d. Audrey Spencer(OSU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Ashton Bowers(AUB) v Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-2, 6-5, unf.

6. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Alessia Cau(OSU) 7-5, 6-0

Order of finish: 1, 6, 3, 4

Auburn may have expected to have a rematch with Georgia, given the home crowd advantage the Bulldogs would have Saturday evening and the four-hour match ending after midnight that Georgia's opponent Texas A&M had precious little time to recover from.

But the loud and invested Georgia crowd couldn't rattle the Aggies, who came from 3-1 down to earn a 4-3 victory, with Lucciana Perez fighting through cramps to clinch the match with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over Anastasiia Lopata at line 1.

The crowd, a bit smaller than the 2000 in attendance Friday night, was buoyant after Georgia dominated in doubles, but A&M diffused that excitement when they took the first three sets in singles. Georgia won two tiebreakers and a quick first set from Sofia Rojas at line 5 to claim the next three first sets, so Texas A&M would need to force at least one third set somewhere. 

Deniz Dilek made it 2-0 Georgia with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Ilinca Amariei, but Mia Kupres put Texas A&M on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Aysegul Mert at line 2. Emma Dong made it 3-1 Georgia with a 7-6(1), 6-1 win over Lexington Reed at line 4, but the Aggies got the split they needed from Friday night's hero Violeta Martinez, who trailed Rojas 6-1, 4-1 before winning six of the next seven games. 

But Lopata was in the process forcing a third set at line 1, with Perez failing to convert her two match points serving at 6-1, 5-3 and Lopata taking advantage of a Perez leg cramp late in the second set to claim the set in a tiebreaker. 

Martinez, showing no signs of fatigue after her post-midnight clinch Friday, closed out Rojas for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win and A&M's Daria Smetannikov was up 4-2 in the third set with her match against Patricija Paukstyte at line 6, with the Aggies needing both that match and a victory from Perez at line 1. 

In the long and brutal rallies, with points routinely decided after more than 30 strokes, it was no surprise that both Perez and Lopata struggled physically at times. Lopata took a medical time out for cramping treatment during the first game of the third set, then took a 3-1 lead over Perez, with the crowd roaring its support. Meanwhile Paukstyte had gotten the break back at line 6, but serving at 4-5, Smetannikov broke her to pull her team even for the first time all night and send all the fans down to the opposite side of the stadium to support Lopata.

After shaking off the cramp late in the second set, Perez didn't panic, continuing to engage in long rallies, and by the seventh game of the final set, Lopata's legs were gone. She was broken at love to go down 4-3 and when Perez took a deciding point to hold for 5-3, Lopata could not summon any energy for a final push, losing the game at love after four unforced errors, with the now somber crowd began making their way to the exits.

"To come back from last night, a four-and-a-half-hour match, or whatever it was, it's just pretty tough," said Texas A&M head coach Mark Weaver, whose team will be playing in its third straight NCAA final. "The girls probably didn't get a proper night's sleep, we got home 1:30 a.m., I slept from 3 to 7, the good news is I don't have to swing the racquets, but a pretty amazing job by them to come back from that marathon last night and a marathon tonight and Georgia has a thousand people behind them yelling and screaming for us to do that, it's just a miraculous effort."

Perez, who is now 28-0 this season and lost just her fourth set of the year tonight, sounded weary yet energized by the effort of her teammates in spite of a partisan crowd.

"We knew this was going to be a battle," said the junior from Peru. "The crowd was amazing, the atmosphere was incredible, but we just fought so hard, and it really showed all the work we have put in this year.”

Weaver will now face his former associate head coach Jordan Szabo, who left for Auburn immediately after Texas A&M had won their first national championship in 2024.

"I'm not surprised," Weaver said of the prospect of facing Szabo so soon with a national championship on the line. "His athletic director called me and asked if Jordan Szabo can win us a national title and I said, yes he could. Jordan's a coach willing to do anything and everything to win. He's in the finals and we're looking forward to a battle tomorrow."

As he left the press conference, Weaver added, "I can explain to you what that means if you like."

Georgia head coach Drake Bernstein was subdued, obviously disappointed that his team would not be playing for a national title Sunday night, but voiced his appreciation for all the support his team has received from the community.

"I think you saw out there tonight how far this team has come, the competitiveness and composure down the stretch," said Bernstein, who led the team to the ITA National Indoor Championship this year. "It’s a big stage and we did everything we could to give ourselves a chance to play one more day in front of the greatest fans in the country and on the greatest stage in the country. Again, really proud of these ladies. I know that this one’s going to sting all of us for a bit, but I hope that in due time we’re all able to look back and smile at these memories and the effort that we laid out there tonight.”

Texas A&M[4] 4 Georgia[1] 3

Doubles:

1. Antastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(A&M)

2. Denis Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. VIoleta Martinez and Ilinca Amariei(TAMU) 6-3

3. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) v Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva 5-4, unf.

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3

2. Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Aysegul Mert(UGA) 6-4, 6-2 

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Ilinca Amariei(TAMU) 7-6(3), 6-1

4. Emma Dong(UGA) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 7-6(1), 6-1

5. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) d. Sofia Rojas(UGA) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 

6. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 1

The men's final is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, with the  women's final set for 7 p.m. 

The NCAA finals tournament page is here; live scoring is provided by iOnCourt, with the men's link here and the women's link here.

The finals are being streamed on ESPN+(subscription required). Jill Craybas and Kevin Skinner will be providing commentary for the women's final, with Sam Gore and Luke Jensen calling the men's final.