CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Sunday’s semifinal match of the NCAA Doubles Championships was a battle to the bitter end, but Gustavus’s Nick Aney (Jr., Rochester) and Alex Budde (So., Menomonee Falls, Wis.) came up just short in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7) loss to Jeffrey Chen and Adam Tzeng of Brandeis.
Aney and Budde earn All-America for being one of the final four doubles teams in Division III, garnering the program’s 108th and 109th All-America honors.
“Obviously it’s a very tough result for our guys given the position we were in serving for it in the third and then having match points on the opponent’s serve 6-5,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “The line between winning and losing is razor thin when you get to this stage. Give Brandeis a lot of credit for how they hung in there. I couldn’t be prouder Nick and Alex and of how well they competed in this match and throughout the tournament. We would have loved to come through today and play one more match, but we will certainly learn from this one and grow from it. We’re thankful to have had a season this spring for our entire team, and for Nick and Alex to emerge as All-Americans and to have played so well at this level means a great deal. Once again they represented our program and family beautifully and will use this experience as motivation and growth for next season.”
The Gustie duo advanced to the semifinals by defeating Calvin Chung and Kam Arturo of Williams 6-3, 6-4 in the first round, followed by a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the quarterfinals over Daniel Blonquist and Marcos Dias of Southern Virginia.