Blue Demons Tripp Up Butler 4-3 on Sunday

CHICAGO – All the pressure, and pretty much all the eyeballs at the XS Tennis Village courts were glued to the solitary No. 6 singles match on Sunday.

With the match score tied 3-3, it all came down to DePaul's Tripp Tuff vs. Butler's big-serving Borja Miralles.

With his teammates screaming at every point, Tuff won the first set in tiebreakers 7-6(7-4). Miralles and his high-velocity game came back to win the second set 7-5.

But in the clinching set, Tuff was the first to break serve leading to a 6-3 triumph.

"There was a lot of pressure, and you could see everyone at XS Tennis was focusing on the only match left," Tuff said after being mobbed by jubilant Blue Demons. "I was so glad I could win it for the guys."

If Tuff was the proverbial ninth-inning closer in this scenario, he couldn't have done it without a huge assist from eighth-inning setup man Luuk Wassenaar.

The Blue Demons (9-11, 4-0 BIG EAST) were trailing 3-2 when the Netherlands graduate student kept hopes alive with a late-charging 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 victory over Peter Joss.

After that, it was Tripp Tuff Time.

Coach Matt Brothers' team jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the strength of doubles wins from Vito Tonejc and Wassenaar along with Jona Gitschel and Leon Huck.

Brothers decided to shake up his doubles lineup in search of improved performances. That adjustment resulted in an oh-so-precious point. Had the "Band of Brothers" lost the doubles point, the late heroics of Wassenaar and Tripp would have been for naught.

Butler dropped to 10-10, 2-3

The Blue Demons hit the road Wednesday for a tough encounter against Notre Dame (15-11).

DePaul 4, Butler 3
April 10, 2022
(XS Tennis Village)
Singles
1. Vito Tonejc (DPU) def. Thomas Brennan (BU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Michael Dickson (BU) def. Marino Jakic (DPU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Alvaro Huete Vadillo (BU) def. Leon Huck (DPU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) def. Patrick Joss (BU) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
5. Michael Karr (BU) def. Matteo Iaquinto (DPU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
6. Tripp Tuff (DPU) def. Borja Miralles (BU) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3

Doubles
1. Vito Tonejc/Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) def. Thomas Brennan/Alvaro Huete Vadillo (BU) 6-3
2. Jona Gitschel/Leon Huck (DPU) def. Michael Dickson/Patrick Joss (BU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Marino Jakic/Tripp Tuff (DPU) vs. Michael Karr/Borja Miralles (BU) 6-6, unfinished

Match Notes:
Butler 10-10
DePaul 9-11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2)
Singles (3,2,1,5,4,6)

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Players Mentioned

Jona Gitschel

Leon Huck

Matteo Iaquinto

Marino Jakic

Vito Tonejc

Tripp Tuff

Luuk Wassenaar

DePaul University Athletics