IRVINE, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine tennis players James Caddies and Mike Jansen rose to the challenge at this past week's ITA Regional Tournament and completed an incredible run by emerging as the winners of the NCAA DII Men's Doubles bracket.

This is the first time in the school's NCAA DII era that Concordia has seen a men's pair win the ITA Regional Tournament in the fall semester.  Caddies and Jansen defeated the Point Loma pair of Alexander Leischner and Fabian Penzkofer in an 8-7 decision.

Every fall, this out-of-season tournament serves as a great way for coaches and players to face stiff competition and see how they measure up against other schools prior to the spring. This year the ITA Regional Tournament was hosted by Colorado Mesa.

Due to the weather in Colorado, the student-athletes and teams had to relocate to a different facility that was indoors to complete the tournament.

Caddies and Jansen excelled at every stop through the bracket.  As two of the older and more experienced Golden Eagles on the CUI roster, this achievement is special for them as they have evolved and improved during their time at Concordia.

"I am so incredibly proud of their performance throughout the ITA Regional," said CUI head coach Jonathan Sanchez. "Mike and James have been putting in a lot of hard work leading up to this event, so to see them come out on top was such an amazing moment. The incredible energy they brought to the tennis court this weekend was a big contributing factor to their success as well."

In singles play, freshman Alexander Edmonston and returner Adam Large won three matches and Leon Czarnikau won two.

On the women's side, multiple Golden Eagles won at least one match, including returners Tiffany Carrillo and Alyssa Zayat.  Heather Richards was among the standouts as she won two matches and advanced to the round of 16 in the main singles bracket.
 
CLICK HERE for the 2023 CUI men's tennis schedule