KANSAS CITY, Mo.- William Woods men's tennis continued their domination on the court, taking wins from John Brown and Our Lady of the Lake in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tennis Championships before falling short in the finale to Missouri Baptist.  

Woods, who has won a conference title for three years in a row, took their first matchup against John Brown University 5-0. Top doubles pairings of Duarte Melo/Noah Burton and Tobias Hajek/Cole Horton both throttled their opponents to take the first doubles point of the tournament. The Owls continued that momentum with a clean sweep in singles play with Melo, Horton, Burton, and Tomas Guadagni taking their matches to seal a 5-0 win in the opening round of tournament play.  

Following that dominating performance, Woods was matched up with another nationally ranked program in the semifinals: Our Lady of the Lake. The #3 team in the tournament, The Saints, matched up well against the Owls in the nightcap match. Woods was able to sneak the doubles point with both top pairs earning the point for the Owls. In singles play, Woods quickly fell behind after losing the top two marks in consecutive sets. Aoi Ooka and Guadagni were the next to Owls to finish their matches, taking a 3-2 match lead over the Saints with #3 and #5 singles to still turn in their scores. Thomas Geukemeijer battled with the OLLU #5 player before falling short to tie the match score at three. Burton, in the three slot, bested his opponent in three sets to clinch the match win for the Owls and propel them to a spot in the championship match.  

Playing in their ninth consecutive title match, Woods matched up with the #13 ranked Spartans of Missouri. Baptist. The Spartans, who took a 4-0 win against the Owls at the Suzanne Neal Memorial Tennis Complex earlier in the season, earned a much more competitive match against the Owls this time around. William Woods #2 pairing of Hajek and Horton and #3 pair of Bruno Matta and Jesper Seger bested their counterparts to take the doubles point.  

Freshman Tomas Guadagni was the first singles player to finish their match, taking a 6-4, 6-1 scoreline to give Woods a 2-0 match advantage. This advantage was short lived as Missouri Baptist took #2, #3, #5, and #6 singles matches to cement their first ever conference tournament championship in program history and their second victory over the Owls all-time.  

William Woods awaits the NAIA Men's Tennis National Selection Show on Tuesday afternoon to see if they have earned an at-large bid to the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship Tournament.