Virginia defeated No. 1 Oklahoma 4-1 to secure its second title in three years.
WACO, Texas -- Virginia's Mitchell Frank won the No. 2 singles line and clinched the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship for the Cavaliers Tuesday at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center.
Frank, ranked 20th in collegiate singles, defeated No. 7 Andrew Harris of Oklahoma 7-5, 7-5. With the singes win, third-seeded Virginia took home the championship 4-1 against the No. 1 Sooners.
It marked the Cavaliers' second national crown, as Virginia beat UCLA in 2013. Virginia was runner-up to Southern California the previous two years. In 2014, the Cavaliers fell 4-1 in the semifinals to eventual champion USC at Athens, Georgia.
Frank was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He also experienced his second national championship, a feat not that many players get to experience."For me, it's the top of the world to win another national title, and kind of go out on top," Frank said. "I will be able to have these memories for as long as I live. After that first one [championship], it was obviously thrilling. I think the biggest difference this year is we really had a cohesive unit. Nobody cared about the credit."
Cavaliers coach Brian Boland had nothing but praise for Mitchell and his teammates.
"In both cases [two championships] I'm just happy for the players to be able to experience it," Boland said. "They put in so much work throughout the year. There is nothing more special for me to see a group of young men work hard, come together, do it the right way, and then watch them celebrate at the end."
Virginia (29-3) blanked Columbia 4-0 in last week's round of 16, and then took out sixth-seeded Texas A&M, by the same score in the quarterfinals. The Cavaliers outfought host Baylor, seeded second, and won the semifinals matchup 4-2.
Oklahoma (29-3) edged 16th-seeded UCLA 4-3 in the round of 16, and No. 8 Georgia 4-2 in the quarterfinals. The Sooners earned a slot in their second consecutive final with a tightly played 4-3 victory against No. 5 TCU in the semifinals. Last year, Southern California was a 4-2 winner against the Sooners at Athens, Georgia, in the title match.
The Cavaliers opened Tuesday's match by winning all three doubles and taking the first point of the matchup. Oklahoma's only win came at No. 5 singles from Spencer Papa in a straight-set match.
"We had our chances, but they had a great doubles point against us," Sooners coach John Roddick said. "They were very deserving today. We knew going in they maybe were going to be the team to beat."
