UT Dallas Tennis Champs

The men's and women's teams brought home two conference titles in tennis over the weekend. Both teams defeated UT Tyler in their final rounds of play.

The UT Dallas varsity tennis program made history Sunday afternoon when the Comets won both the 2013 American Southwest Conference men’s and women’s tennis championships. It was the first conference championship in school history for both teams.

The Comets won the titles in dramatic fashion, both knocking off longtime tennis powerhouse UT Tyler in the championship matches. UT Dallas’ women snapped a five-year ASC Championship run by the Patriots with a 5-2 win. The Comet men also ended a five-year streak by UT Tyler, which had entered the conference tournament as the No. 11-ranked team in the nation. UT Dallas swept through the doubles 3-0 before finishing off the 5-2 win.

The UT Dallas women, who finished first in the ASC East Division after a pivotal win over the Patriots earlier this spring, had a first-round bye in the tournament, then shut out Mississippi College, 6-0, in the semifinal round. The UT Dallas men dispatched Schreiner University, 5-1, in the quarterfinals and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 5-0, in the semifinals.

Casey Johnson

Casey Johnson

Dustin Foster

Dustin Foster

Both teams will advance to the NCAA Division III national team championship tournament.

The second time proved to be the charm for the UT Dallas women. The team had played in its first American Southwest Conference championship last year but fell to UT Tyler. This time around, UT Dallas took two of three doubles matches and added three singles wins to secure the league title and school-record tying 15th win of the season.

“This is a culmination of a lot of hard work,” said UT Dallas women's tennis coach Bryan Whitt. “I am very excited for senior Rachel Houston as she has been around this program as it has turned into a conference power. She has grown as a player and our team has grown with her.”

Casey Johnson was named Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Jean-Jean Gwo, Rachel Houston and Auvi Tran.

Not to be outdone by the women's squad earlier in the afternoon, the UT Dallas men's tennis team made it a clean sweep Sunday evening with its 5-2 win over UT Tyler.

The Comet men were making their first trip to the ASC title match since 2007.

UT Dallas opened the event with a sweep at doubles. The Comets then stumbled to start singles play, dropping the first two matches before Dustin Foster and Byron Cole won their matches to propel UT Dallas to the title.

Foster was named Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Cole, Matthew Davis and Bryan Leib.

Pairings for first-round games in the men's and women's national team championship tournament will be announced this week.