YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State women’s tennis program has quietly cultivated a Horizon League dynasty over the past decade.
In 10 seasons under head coach Mickael Sopel, the Penguins have dominated the conference. From 2014-2018, YSU won the Horizon League crown, qualifying for the NCAA tournament, five times in a row, and then again scaled the top of the conference once more last season.
On Sunday, YSU added its seventh Horizon League championship, going back-to-back and surviving an epic 3.5-hour marathon match in a 4-3 victory over rival Cleveland State in the conference tournament final at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“It’s always a very special thing to achieve and win, doing so back-to-back makes it a little sweeter because it’s hard to do,” Sopel said. “We know how hard it is to go back to the tournament and win it again. We saw how hard it was (Sunday) in that final match. It’s very special to have a group that’s able to do that again. It shows how resilient they are and shows a lot about what it means to them.”
It was the ninth time that YSU has reached the tournament final in the 10 years it has been contested.
Sopel credits YSU’s prolonged run of success to the culture that the players and the coaching staff have fostered within the program.
“A culture of the way we compete, the way the girls train everyday, how serious they are about their tennis and everything they do on a daily basis,” Sopel said. “This is a team that sticks together, that fights together and that goes out there and finds ways to win matches. With all the culture we’ve built and all the types of players that have come through this program, they know how much the Horizon League means to them and they put in all the work and always have that in their minds to go out there and win that title.”
What’s unique about this year’s title, is that the Penguins also won the Horizon League regular season championship in addition, something that they haven’t done since 2015, with Sopel calling it “a really big achievement for this program.”
Being the top seed after going undefeated in conference play during the regular season, YSU earned a bye for the quarterfinals. After the Penguins swept past No. 5 seed Milwaukee 5-0 in the semifinal, YSU was set for the championship against the second-seeded Vikings.
YSU started things off by clinching the doubles point, winning at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions.
Singles, however, were a gauntlet.
Sophomore Elisa Rigazio made quick work of her opponent, winning in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) at the No. 1 spot. But then Cleveland State picked up its first point of the match, as sophomore Lili Minich fell at No. 2 (4-6, 0-6).
Each of the final four singles matches went the distance, all going three sets. After sophomore Julia Marko came back from a set down to win at No. 5 (6-7, 6-1, 6-1) and the Penguins lost at the No. 3 and No. 6 spots, it all came down to fifth-year senior Cecilia Rosas at the No. 4 spot with the match tied 3-3.
“Everyone talks about being the clincher, but you never know until you’re there,” Rosas said. “So when everything came down to me, first, I didn’t want to mess it up for me or for my team. So I was like, this is up to me — all the pieces of the puzzle are together, but to complete the puzzle, you must be the last piece.”
Rosas took the first set in a tiebreak, but dropped the second set 6-2. In the deciding set, Rosas held a 6-5 lead with her opponent, Sima Heren to serve.
During that final game, Heren dealt with cramping issues and Rosas said she saw an opening to break serve and clinch the match. On her third match point, Rosas returned Heren’s serve and as Heren’s crosscourt forehand drifted wide, Rosas’ Penguin teammates stormed the court and mobbed her on the baseline in celebration.
“We had planned a whole drop the racket celebration, but honestly, (in the moment) I didn’t think of it,” Rosas said. “I just thought, it’s finally over and I just raised my hands — just happiness as the girls ran over to me.”
“It was such a hard match,” she added. “I was already tight and nervous. But at the end, I just came through. Everything is so loud and so quiet (during the match), and everything is so fast and so slow. You just hope to make the best of it and that it will work out.”
As she stood anxiously watching her teammate, Minich had the rare perspective to understand what Rosas was going through, since she ended up being the clinching match in last year’s championship against Milwaukee.
“I was so scared and anxious,” Minich said. “I could totally relate to her. But it was a completely different perspective for me, seeing her clinching, instead of being the one on court. Hopefully next year or the next two years, we’ll be able to accomplish something similar. It’s always special (to win.)”
The title clinched the Horizon League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. During a selection show watch party Monday night at the Beeghly Center, the Penguins learned of their fate.
YSU will head back to Ann Arbor on Friday, where it will face No. 5 seed Michigan at 2 p.m. in the first round of the tournament. The YSU-Michigan winner will face the winner of the Notre Dame-Ball State matchup in the second round.
“We know that Michigan is a very, very good team,” Minich said. “We saw them play last year during regionals, so we know their girls are very good. I’m excited to be going back (to Ann Arbor) because it’s kind of like our second home. We have a lot of good memories there from (winning the conference title) last year and from this year. So I’m super excited to go back and hopefully we have a great match.”
