The University of Denver men’s and women’s tennis squads only dropped one singles match en route to capturing their respective Summit League Championships on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. This marks the 10th straight conference title for the women’s program and the first title since 2021 for the men’s squad.

DU men’s tennis now improves to 23-0, their best start in program history. They are the only remaining undefeated men’s squad in the country. 

Since joining the conference in 2014, the women’s team has never lost a Summit League regular season or post-season match. They did not even come close to losing in any matches this season, and finished 6-0 in conference play. 

After capturing the regular season title and the first seed in the conference tournament, the women’s team was set to face Oral Roberts in the semifinals. After easily defeating the Golden Eagles just the week before, 7-0, DU cruised to a 4-0 win to advance to the finals. 

During the doubles portion, sophomores Louise Wilkander and Caroline Driscoll combined for a 6-1 victory while sophomores Alice Otis and Claudia Martinez de Velasco worked to a 6-3 victory to capture the first point for DU. 

In the singles side of the match, Martinez de Velasco, Driscoll and junior Andrea Burguete Beltran each won their matches in straight sets to capture the sweep for Denver and advance them to their 10th straight conference championship game. 

The championship match was a repeat of the semifinal, and DU went on to win a 4-0 sweep. 

They started the match by capturing the doubles point thanks to one-set victories from the Wilkander/Driscoll duo and Burguete Beltran combined with graduate student Britt Pursell. Straight-set victories in the singles matches from Burguete Beltran, Otis, and Driscoll sealed the destiny of the team to win another conference title.

After the match concluded, Burguete Beltran was given the Summit League Player of the Year award, the highest conference honor. She was a perfect 5-0 in conference singles matches this season and a perfect 5-0 in doubles matches. 

Otis was awarded the Summit League Newcomer of the Year award. The South Carolina transfer led the league with six conference wins during the season and is the third straight DU women’s player to take home the award. 

In his third season with DU, Head Coach Paul Wardlaw captured his third straight Coach of the Year award. He has still yet to be a part of a conference loss. 

On the men’s side, the Crimson and Gold were seeking revenge for losing in the last two championship games. Last season, DU won the regular season but could not defeat Drake University in the championship of the conference tournament. They would be able to get their revenge on Saturday. 

This season, DU men’s tennis has never lost a game and went 21-0 in the regular season. This included a perfect 5-0 in conference play and a capture of the first seed in the tournament. 

DU matched up with the fourth seed, North Dakota, in the semifinal match on Friday and defeated them 4-1.

On the doubles side, junior Rikuto Yamaguchi and senior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta combined for a 6-2 win while graduate student Marvin Schaber and junior Daniel Sancho Arbizu also won their match 6-2. 

On the singles side, DU could not put North Dakota away and each match went to three sets. Schaber dropped his singles match in straight sets but three set wins from Sancho Arbizu, senior Charlie Miller and graduate student Anish Sriniketh lifted DU to advance to the championship game. 

 With revenge and a perfect season on the line, DU had to bring their A-game on Saturday and did just that, besting the Drake Bulldogs 4-0. 

On the doubles side, Yamaguchi and Herrero Cuesta lost their doubles match 6-0, but wins from the Shaber/Sancho Arbizu duo and Sriniketh/Raffaello Papajcik duo lifted DU to the first point of the match. 

The singles side was much easier for DU and straight-set victories from Schaber, Sriniketh, and Miller gave DU their 23rd consecutive victory and sixth conference title. 

Herrero Cuesta captured his second straight Summit League Player of the Year award after the match. He is the first player since 2015 to go back-to-back when Denver’s Henry Craig did so. 

Schaber captured the Newcomer of the Year award. The San Diego transfer went 18-1 in singles play during the regular season and a perfect 5-0 in conference action. 

In his third season with the program, Head Coach Drew Eberly captured his second straight Coach of the Year award. He led DU to the most wins in a season in conference history. 

With the conference titles, each team has secured auto-bids into the NCAA tournament. The bracket for the tournaments has not been determined but the selection show is set to take place on April 29 at 6 p.m. The NCAA tournament will be held on May 3-5.