SURPRISE, Ariz. (May 20, 2026) – No.3-seed No. 12 Lubbock Christian University continued its historic postseason run Wednesday afternoon, advancing to the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships quarterfinals with a 4-0 sweep of No.14-seed No. 35 Harding at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex. The victory pushed the Chaparrals to 23-5 overall, extended their winning streak to 13 consecutive matches and improved LCU to 5-3 all-time in NCAA postseason play while securing the program's second straight berth into the national quarterfinal round.
Harding (17-8) struck first in doubles, taking the No. 1 position as Cian Mikkelsen and Adrian Solorzano defeated the No. 8-ranked LCU tandem of
Mattia Ghedin and No. 4
Kelly Giese 6-4. LCU quickly responded at No. 2, where the No. 26-ranked duo of
Andres De Los Rios and
Pablo Segura rolled to a 6-2 victory over Harding's No. 27 pair of Florian Gayme and Jan Alexander Has to even doubles play. The point came down to No. 3 doubles, where
Marco Seccia and
Andrea Rossi Principe delivered a 6-4 decision against Harding's nationally ranked tandem of Edoardo D'Arrigo and Sebastian DeLasSalas, giving the Chaparrals the early 1-0 advantage.
The Chaparrals carried that momentum directly into singles and controlled the middle of the lineup throughout the afternoon. No. 31 De Los Rios was first off the court, dominating Luis Agullo 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4 singles to double the LCU lead. Moments later, Seccia added another commanding performance at No. 5, defeating Caleb Folse 6-1, 6-3 to push the advantage to 3-0 while extending his singles winning streak to 11 consecutive matches.
The clinching point came from No. 20 Segura at the No. 2 position. After racing through the opening set 6-1 against Sebastian DeLasSalas, Segura battled through a tighter second set before securing the 7-5 victory to complete the 4-0 sweep and send the Chaparrals into the national quarterfinals for a second consecutive season.
Several other matches were left unfinished with LCU holding favorable positions across the remaining courts. At No. 3 singles, No. 57 Ghedin had rallied from a first-set deficit and held a commanding lead against Cian Mikkelsen after winning a second-set tiebreak. At No. 1 singles, No. 4 Giese had rebounded after dropping the opening set against No. 66 Adrian Solorzano, while
Hayden Loffler was locked in a tight battle at No. 6 singles before play was halted following the clinch.
LCU's depth again proved decisive against a nationally ranked opponent, as the Chaparrals improved to 13-3 this season against ITA nationally ranked programs. De Los Rios continued his historic campaign by earning his 31st singles victory of the season, becoming only the second player in program history to reach that mark while extending his personal winning streak to eight matches. Seccia improved to 18-4 overall and 15-2 in dual singles play while continuing his dominant late-season stretch, and the doubles tandem of Seccia and Rossi Principe moved to 14-6 overall with their second victory this season over a nationally ranked doubles pair. De Los Rios and Segura also improved to 17-8 together at No. 2 doubles, while Ghedin and Giese raised their team-leading doubles total to 18 victories.
The win marked LCU's fourth consecutive victory over Harding and its third win this season against the Bisons, after previously defeating Harding 6-1 during February's neutral-site event in Tyler, Texas. Under first-year full-time head coach Hutton Jones, the Chaparrals have now captured the program's first Lone Star Conference regular-season championship, repeated as LSC tournament champions and advanced back to the NCAA Division II final site in consecutive seasons.
LCU will have a quick turnaround, as they will face No.6-seed No.4 Flagler in the quarterfinals Friday at 11 a.m. (CT) in Surprise for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
