ELMHURST, Ill.  – With Augustana's CCIW Championship dual versus North Central tied at 4-4, CCIW Player of the Year Caio de Rezende (Colegio Itoca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) came through with a 7-6, 6-2 first singles victory over Javier Suarez to give Coach Jon Miedema's men their third conference title in the last four years. The Vikings were CCIW champions in 2017-18 and 2018-19 before COVID fears scuttled last year's tournament.
 
Not surprisingly, the battle between the league's top two seeds at the Brune Tennis Courts was tight the entire way.
 
Juniors Justin Cassens (Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, Wash.) and Leonardo Panosso (La Sale Caxias, Caxsias do Sul, Brazil) got Augustana off to a solid start with an 8-3 win over Morgan Red and Justin Howes at number three doubles. Suarez and Ramon Vilarroig evened the score with an 8-6 second doubles win over senior Peter Alex (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) and junior Kyle Boudreau (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.).
 
Seniors de Rezende and and Alvaro Leal (Maristas Valencia, Valencia, Spain) put the Vikings up 2-1 heading to singles play. They defeated Andy Hinch and Guillermo Gonzalez 8-7 at number one.
 
The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead with Vilarroig's 6-0, 6-1 second singles win over Leal and Gonzalez's 6-0, 6-0 victory over Alex at number three.
 
After Panosso defeated Hinch four and two at fourth singles to tie it, North Central went back on top 4-3 on Steven Mears' 6-2, 6-2 sixth-singles win over Cassens.
 
That left freshman Eliot St. Paul (Ecole Diagonal, Paris, France) and de Rezende on the court, with the Vikings needing wins from both to claim the title. St. Paul took care of Red 7-5, 6-3 to set the stage for de Rezende's clincher.
 
Miedema's squad moves on to NCAA Division III Tournament play with a 12-6 record. North Central fell to 11-6 on the season.