If you are to discuss dominance in collegiate sports, there should be no absence of the University of Denver women’s tennis squad in Summit League action in that conversation. The women’s squad was in Tulsa, Oklahoma this past weekend taking part in the Summit League Tournament and swept both their semifinals and finals matchups en route to capturing their ninth straight conference title. 

The men’s squad was also competing in their respective Summit League Tournament and fell short for the second year in a row against Drake University in the championship. 

DU Tennis joined the conference in 2014 and has been dominating ever since. The women’s team has never lost a matchup against a Summit League opponent and has won every single regular season and conference title since their first season in 2014. A true under-the-radar, underappreciated dynasty in the sport of college tennis. 

The men’s squad has been no different as they have absolutely dominated the Summit League since 2014. They have won five out of nine conference titles and have also won eight regular season titles out of that timespan.

A day before each team took part in their semifinal matchup, the teams swept their respective slate of the major Summit League end-of-the-year awards. On the women’s side, fifth-year student Taylor Melville (Duluth, Ga.) won her first Summit League Player of the Year award after her dominant season. Melville won a league-leading 15 matches this season and was ranked No. 90 in the national ITA rankings. 

Freshman Louise Wilkander (Helsingborg, Sweden) captured her first career award, winning the Summit League Newcomer of the Year award. She was tied with Melville this season with 15 wins, never dropping a match against her Summit League opponents. 

Head coach Paul Wardlaw won Coach of the Year after leading his squad to a perfect 6-0 record against Summit League opponents. Wardlaw has won the award twice in his two seasons with Denver. 

On the men’s side, it was junior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (Segovia, Spain) who won Summit League Player of the Year for the first time in his career. Herrero Cuesta only dropped one set in his perfect conference season and won 14 out of his 17 singles matches in straight sets. 

After dominating the WAC conference in his freshman year with Lamar University, sophomore Daniel Sancho Aribizu (Zaragoza, Spain) transferred to DU this season and continued his successful collegiate career winning Summit League Newcomer of the Year. In all five of his conference matches, Sancho Aribizu never dropped a set and won 12 total matches this season. 

Head Coach Drew Eberly completed the sweep of awards winning Summit League Coach of the Year for the first time in his young career. After being an assistant under former Head Coach Ricardo Rubio, Eberly became the head coach back in 2021 and has since coached his team to a perfect regular season conference record. 

Starting Friday, the women’s squad faced the University of Omaha-Nebraska in their semifinal matchup and defeated the Mavericks 4-0. 

Freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco (Madrid, Spain) and sophomore Andrea Burguete Beltran (Burriana, Spain) defeated their opponents in the No. 2 doubles match, 6-3. Freshman Caroline Driscoll (Brookline, Mass.) alongside Wilkander also defeated their doubles opponent, 6-3 to earn the doubles point for Denver. 

Wilkander, Driscoll and senior Britt Pursell (Oceanside, Calif.) each won their singles matches in straight sets to help capture the last three winning points of the match. Pursell and Driscoll only dropped two points in their second sets en route to the sweeping victory. 

On Saturday, the team faced the University of North Dakota in the championship matchup of the conference tournament and defeated the Fighting Hawks, 4-0. 

The same two doubles pairs, Martinez de Velasco with Burguete Beltran and Driscoll with Wilkander, swept their doubles matchups to win the doubles point. Melville, Burguete Beltran and Pursell won their singles matches in straight sets to seal the deal for the Crimson and Gold. Pursell did not drop a point in her victory and Melville only dropped one point in the second set. 

Moving to the men’s side of the tournament, DU also took on Omaha in their semifinal matchup. It was a much closer contest and it came down to the wire before Denver prevailed 3-2. 

Junior Peter Sallay (Budapest, Hungary) and redshirt senior Anish Sriniketh (Katy, Texas) started off the contest by winning their doubles matchup. Herrero Cuesta and graduate student Conner Olsen (Orono, Minn.) combined to win the No. 3 doubles match and earn the doubles point for the Crimson and Gold. 

Herrero Cuesta won his singles match in straight sets while Sally and Sancho Arbizu took three sets to win their singles match en route to capturing the victory over the Mavericks. Herrero Cuesta only dropped three points in two sets to win the singles matchup. 

It was a quest for revenge on Saturday in the championship for the men’s squad. Last year, the team was defeated in the championship for the second time in the last three seasons by the Drake Bulldogs. But ultimately the desire for revenge was cut short, and Denver fell 4-1 in the final. 

Drake would handle the Crimson and Gold in the doubles matchups and earned the point after defeating the No. 1 and No. 2 pairs. Herrero Cuesta and Olsen were able to win their No. 3 doubles match, 6-3. 

The only point of the contest for Denver would come in the No. 2 singles match from player of the year Herrero Cuesta who defeated his opponent in straight sets. 

Sallay almost came back in the No. 4 singles match, winning the second straight in a tiebreaker. But the match was forced to be unfinished before Sallay could make headway in the third and final set and the Bulldogs officially defeated Denver for the second year in a row. 

After their impressive showing at the championships, the women’s squad has earned an auto bid into the NCAA Championships. They await their placement in the 64-team bracket that will be announced on Monday, May 1st by the NCAA. The championships take place in Orlando, Fla. on May 17-27 for both the women’s and men’s teams.