Trinity's 2000 National Championship Tennis Teams

The Tiger men’s and women’s tennis teams made history in 2000, bringing home a pair of NCAA Division III Championships to Trinity University. 

Not only did the 2000 tennis teams bring home the first Division III national titles to Trinity, but prior to Trinity’s run to the championships, no school in Division III had ever won both tennis titles in the same year.  Since then, it has been accomplished four more times, but no teams held the distinction before the Tigers.

The women’s team had been close to a title many times before, finishing among the top four teams six times prior to winning in 2000.  In fact, the Tigers were in the championship game in 1997, but fell short against Kenyon.  In 2000, the team defeated Pomona-Pitzer 8-1 in the West Regional finals, then made the trip to St. Peter, Minnesota for the NCAA Championships. 

The men’s team had not made it quite as far as the women, but the Tigers were coming off their best-ever finish (fourth place) in 1999.  With a wealth of returning talent in 2000, the Tigers breezed through the South Regional finals in Fredericksburg, Virginia, defeating Mary Washington 7-0.  The men’s championships were in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Here’s where things got really interesting.  Butch Newman was the head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams, but had to choose which direction to go…Michigan with the men’s team, or Minnesota with the women’s team?  Coach Newman decided to leave the men’s team in the capable hands of former assistant Keith McKay.  McKay, a former Tiger All-American, had traveled with the team all season – including in Virginia for the regional finals.  Coach Newman and assistant Ryan Takao – who is now the head coach for the Tiger women – stayed with the women’s team.

The women faced 1999 runner-up Williams in the Quarterfinals, but the Tigers scored a 6-3 victory to make the team’s seventh appearance in the Semifinals.  On the men’s side, Trinity faced familiar foe DePauw – a fellow member of the SCAC, and a team that Trinity had recently beaten 5-2 in the SCAC Championships.  Trinity jumped out quickly and clinched 4-0 to advance to its second straight semifinal. 

Washington & Lee was the next team eliminated by Trinity’s women’s team, and the Tigers were back in the finals for the first time since 1997.  The women would have to get past four-time champion UC-San Diego for the title, though, who also won its match in the semifinals. 

On the men’s side, four-time Division III champion UC-Santa Cruz stood in the way of Trinity’s first trip to the finals.  Despite falling behind by two points early, Trinity rallied to tie the match at 3-3 with only one match left.  Senior Jeevan Ramakrishnan earned the deciding point, and the Tigers prevailed 4-3, and set up a meeting with another former champion in Gustavus Adolphus.

With both teams in the finals, Trinity’s tennis programs had already achieved the best combined season in the school’s Division III history.  But neither team was satisfied with second place.  The women’s team lost two of the three doubles points, but managed to tie things up 4-4 near the end.  First-year Abbe Ulrich was in the only match not decided at that point, and she split the first two sets with her opponent.  She won the third easily, though, and gave the Tigers their first NCAA Division III National Championship.

In the men’s final, Trinity again fell behind early in the match and then rallied to tie things up 3-3.  This time it was junior Ed Rahn left on the court.  After splitting the first two sets, Rahn then won 6-3 in the final set to clinch the match and the team’s first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship.

The most ironic part was that in addition to both teams playing for the title on the same day, they both finished at almost exactly the same time – mere minutes separating the two celebrations.

It was 10 years ago that the two teams made history…again.  The tennis teams will always be a part of the fabric of Trinity University, and the 2000 Tiger teams have become a major part of that history.  These “Tiger Legends” will forever be remembered for their incredible and unprecedented accomplishments.

The members of the Trinity men’s team were Jeff Mueller, Joseph Ndesandjo, Ed Rahn, Jeevan Ramakrishnan, Sloan Rush, Ryan Scott, and Michael Slutzky.  The women’s team included Lindsey Baldwin, Amanda Browne, Laura Cumming, Kristin Law, Nadine Nitisusanta, Lindsay Smith, Abbe Ulrich, and Lizzie Yasser.