The Calvin University men's tennis team advanced to the MIAA Tournament Final with a 5-2 win over Trine University in the semifinal at Strikwerda Tennis Center.
 
The two teams went back and forth to start the match in doubles play as both teams looked like they could sweep the three matches at different stages.
 
Trine's (14-5) No. 1 team overcame a 6-4 deficit to top the Knights' team of Corwin Kim (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) and Maurquis Willingham (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) 8-6, and then came back from 4-1 down in No. 3 doubles to defeat Ryan Broek (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) and Emmanuel Henao (Medellin, Columbia/Escuela Normal Superior "La Merced") 8-6.
 
With Calvin (15-3) needing a point heading into singles play, the No. 2 team of Felipe Sartori (Cotia, Brazil Colégio Giusto Zonzini) and Harrison Sindelar (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) won an 8-7 thriller thanks to a 9-7 tiebreaker to cut the Knights' deficit to 2-1 after doubles.
 
In singles, Broek (6-2, 6-1) put the Knights on the board with a victory in straight sets in the No. 4 match, while Noah Yi (Fullerton, Calif./Valencia) came back from an early 3-0 deficit in the opening set to win 7-5, 6-3 in the No. 6 match.
 
Sartori gave the Knights a 4-2 overall advantage with a 6-3, 6-3 win in the No. 2 match, and Willingham closed the match with the fifth and final point in No. 1 singles with a 7-5, 6-3 win.
 
Henao and Kim each dropped the opening sets in their matches but came back to force a third set before Willingham secured the final point to end the match.
 
The win pushed the Knights into the MIAA Tournament Final for the first time since the 2018 season.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "I'm really happy for our program," Calvin head tennis coach John Ross said. "We've worked really hard this year. It's good to get a little revenge in what has been a great rivalry between us and Trine. They're really good and this match could have gone either way. We could play 10 times and it would probably end up 5-5. We've got about 24 hours to enjoy this one and then we have to get ready to play Kalamazoo, which is going to be extremely difficult. But it's fun and we've got a great group of young men and a great coaching staff to help. We want to keep this going for hopefully more than one more match."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's tennis will return action on Friday, May 3, when it travels to Kalamazoo for the MIAA Tournament Final.