Cornut-Chauvinc, Dous-Karpenschif punch ticket to NCAA National Championship
STILLWATER, Okla. – Florida State's Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous-Karpenschif punched their ticket to the NCAA Doubles National Championship match after defeating Texas' Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 on Friday afternoon. This continues Florida State's deepest run in the NCAA Individual Championships and marks the first national championship appearance in program history.
"I thought we returned really well today and we were in almost every return game, breaking our opponent several times which in college matches is rare," head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. "We set the tone right away and both players did a great job of putting themselves in great positions."
The FSU duo began the first set with a signature break point in game one before marching out to a 4-1 lead early. They managed the remainder of the set to win 6-4, maintaining a perfect 4-0 mark in first sets during the NCAA Doubles Tournament.
They carried that momentum in the following frame with a fiery 4-0 start to the second set, winning five straight games and two service break games. The Texas pair crept back into the set with three straight games of their own at 4-3.
Cornut-Chauvinc and Dous-Karpenschif dug deep once again and flipped the switch on momentum with two straight aces to claim a 5-3 lead before earning the fifth and final break point to send themselves to the championship.
The Seminole pairing earned their fourth consecutive and 10th nationally-ranked win of the season.
Cornut-Chauvinc and Dous-Karpenschif advance to the championship match and will face No. 3 Robert Cash and JJ Tracy of Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.
NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championship Semifinals:#13 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc/Joshua Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) def. #24 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4, 6-3
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU men's tennis duo advances to first NCAA National Doubles Championship
