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For the fourth straight year, the Barry men’s and women’s teams swept the team titles at the NCAA Division II Championships.

The top-seeded Barry women secured their sixth straight NCAA title and extended their school-record winning streak to 90 straight matches with a 4-1 victory over Nova Southeastern on Tuesday night at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.

On Monday night, the fourth-seeded Barry men won their fourth straight title with a 4-2 win over No. 2 Columbus State 4-2.

The Barry women have won eight overall titles, tying Armstrong Atlantic for the most titles in Division II history. The Barry men moved into a tie for second most national titles all-time with seven, matching SIU-Edwardsville. Lander has the most in men’s Division II with eight.

Both Barry teams had to rally after losing the doubles point to extend their title reigns this season. It was the first point the Barry women lost throughout the entire tournament. Nova Southeastern was the last team to beat Barry before the Bucs launched their lengthy winning streak. The Sharks defeated the Bucs at the Sunshine State Conference tournament in 2019.

Karolina Snita and Julie Razafindranaly gave Nova Southeastern the brief lead in Tuesday’s match by beating Xiyao Wang and Daniela Farfan 7-6 (2) at the No. 3 spot to secure the doubles point.

But Barry’s Deniz Khazan quickly evened the match, beating Razafindranaly 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Clara Versier put Barry ahead for good with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Eva Goncharov at No. 6.

Dinara Alloiarova rallied from a 4-1 first-set deficit to beat Natalie Espinal 6-4, 7-6(1) to put the Bucs one win away from the title. After dropping the first set at No. 5, Selina Pichler completed her comeback with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Diane Follin-Arbelet to clinch another title for Buccaneers.

“I am really happy for that. I didn’t expect to clinch today to be honest,” Pichler said. “I was a set down. … I tried to give everything I had, even though my legs were really sore. But I managed it and I was just happy to clinch today.”

It was the second straight year the Barry women had to rally in the NCAA championship match after losing the doubles point.

Although Barry has celebrated six straight national titles, the Buccaneers never take the wins for granted.

“This year was so special with all of our seniors and trying to keep it going. It is just special standing on its own, going through everything and finding a way to win,” Barry women’s head coach Avi Kigel said. “It’s such a special moment for me, for the team, for Barry and I am so, so proud of the girls and the fight and to be able to go all the way and win another one.”

The Barry men had to rally from a bigger hole than the women’s team. They trailed 2-0 before rolling off four straight singles wins to capture their title.

The Bucs (25-5) dropped the doubles point with Columbus State’s Andrea Sandrone and Felix Steen defeating David Rieme and Tim Buttner 6-2 at No. 3, and Javier Cueto Ramps and Pierto Martinetti beating Alejandro Palacios and Alessandro Giuliato 6-3 at No. 2.

Armin Trklja gave the Cougars (21-5) a 2-0 lead by beating Rieme 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Barry finally got on the board when Buttner beat Sandrone 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot. But things didn’t look very promising for the Bucs when they dropped first sets at No. 1 and No. 2 and trailed 5-4 in the first set on the other two courts.

Arnau Rodriguez and Giuliato sparked the comeback by rallying to win their first sets 7-5. Giuliato beat Tommaso Schold 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 to even the match 2-2, and Rodriguez gave Barry its first lead by defeating Martinetti 7-5, 7-5 at No. 4.

For the second time in three years, Palacios clinched the championship by storming back to beat Cueto Ramos 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to secure the title.

Palacios and Alejandro Ibanez Gallego are the first Barry athletes in any sport to win four national championships during their career.

Men’s Final

Barry 4, Columbus State 2

Doubles

1. #42 Santiago Perez/Tommaso Schold (CSU) vs #10 Alejandro Ibañez Gallego/Arnau Rodriguez (BARRY), 5-3 unfinished
2. #32 Javier Cueto Ramps/Pierto Martinetti (CSU) def. Alelandro Palacios/Alessandro Giuliato (BARRY), 6-3
3. Andrea Sandrone/Felix Steen (CSU) def. David Rieme/Tim Büttner, 6-2

Order of finish: 3,2

Singles

1. #32 Alejandro Ibañez Gallego (BARRY) vs #1 Santiago Perez (CSU), 3-6, 6-3, 4-4 unfinished
2. #27 Alejandro Palacios (BARRY) def. #33 Javier Cueto Ramos, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. #56 Alessandro Giuliato (BARRY) def. Tommaso Schold (CSU), 7-5, 6-3
4. Arnau Rodriguez (BARRY) def. Pietro Martinetti (CSU), 7-5, 7-5
5. Armin Trklja (CSU) def. David Rieme (BARRY), 6-3, 6-0
6. Tim Büttner (BARRY) def. Andrea Sandrone (CSU), 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2

Women’s Final

Barry 4, Nova Southeastern 1

Doubles

1. #1Natalie Espinal/Fatima Bizhukova (NSU) def. Dinara Alloiarova/Angel Leweurs 6-1
2. Deniz Khazan/Nathalia Gasparin (BARRY) def. Eva Goncharov/Diane Follin-Arbelet (NSU) 6-2
3. Karolina Snita/Julie Razafindranaly (NSU) def. Xiyao Wang/Daniela Farfan (BARRY) 7-6(2)

Order of finish: 1,2,3

Singles

1. #1 Deniz Khazan (BARRY) def. #10 Julie Razafindranaly (NSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. #19 Dinara Alloiarova (BARRY) def. #14 Natalie Espinal (NSU) 6-4, 7-6(1)
3. #16 Daniela Farfan (BARRY) vs. #26 Karolina Snita (NSU) 6-3, 2-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. #36 Xiyao Wang (BARRY) def. Fatima Bizhukova (NSU) 6-4, 6-7 (1), 0-1 unfinished
5. Selina Pichler (BARRY) def. Diane Follin-Arbelet (NSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. #63 Clara Versier (BARRY) def. Eva Goncharov (NSU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 2, 5

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].