Prairie State dominates Region IV Division I Championship

PALOS HILLS, ILL. - The Prairie State College men's tennis team left little doubt that they were the best team in the region, running away with the 2018 Region IV Division I Men's Tennis Championship on Saturday, April 28 at Moraine Valley Community College. The Pioneers finished with 24 points, more than double that of second place College of Lake County at 11.5 points. The host Cyclones came in third with ten points.

Prairie State freshman Jofre Tura was named the Region IV Most Valuable Player after the Barcelona, Spain, native won the #1 singles title in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) over Robert Lazar of Oakton Community College. The Pioneers went on the win individual titles at #2 (Anthony Kendall), #3 (James Kirkham), #4(Nati Fekadu), and #5 (Zach Perez), leaving the College of DuPage's Sohil Sampat to win the #6 championship. Tura teamed up with Kirkham to also win the #1 doubles flight, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-0 (5) in a tiebreaker over the duo of Nick Karczynski and Alex Kokoszka from MVCC. Prairie State won two of the three doubles brackets, with DuPage taking the third.

Prairie State College head coach Brian Johnson was named the Region IV Division I Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.

The top three teams, as well as the top singles and doubles players, will compete at the 2018 NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis National Championships in Plano, Texas, from May 14-18.