FLUSHING, NY – The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams’ historical run came to a close on Day 4 of the Oracle/ITA East Region tournament, as unseeded main draw entry Odysseas Papaioannou ’22 (Thessaloniki, Greece) dropped his singles semifinals match to Baz Van Beizen of Southern New Hampshire University 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (3).

Down 4-1 in the first set, the sophomore found his footing to win the next five game to take the set 6-4.  Papaioannou unleashed a barrage of backhands, moving his opponent all over the court before uncorking some wicked winners to take the momentum into the second set.  The sophomore stayed with the formula and saw himself up 5-4 and serving up 40-15.  Van Beizen, a senior, would not be denied and showcased his veteran poise while fighting off three match points to take the game, and ultimately, the match.  In the other semifinal, Willem Van Beizen of Southern New Hampshire defeated Jan Seno of Concordia to advance to the final to face off against his brother.  Willem would take the championship 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the Oracle/ITA National tournament.

With the weekend coming to a close, both programs saw unprecedented success, including:

- Most men’s (23), women’s (11), and combined (34) singles and doubles wins

- Most men (8) and women (4) competing in the main draw

- Most men’s main draw entries (8) of any team in the region

- Most men (3) and women (2) advancing to Day 3

- One men’s doubles pairing and on men’s singles player advanced to the semifinals