Collin College Men's and Women's Tennis took third and sixth place respectively at the National Junior College Athletic Association tournaments this month. The top three finish was the Collin College's best since 2013, and five players were named All-Americans at the men's tournament.

"We said at the start of the season that we wanted to finish in the top three, so we achieved our goal," Coach Jamie Nanez said of the men's team, "but I think we had the talent to finish first, honestly."

The results from the May 12-16 tournament bear that statement out, with Cem Atlamis, Jose Castillo, Enrique Doldan, Minjae Kim, and Luke Stula each playing their way into finals matches for their singles or doubles flights and earning All-American status. Stula won Flight 6 Singles outright, while Doldan took runner-up in Flight 5. Kim and Castillo took the runner-up spot in Flight 1, while Atlamis and Doldan took the same spot in Flight 2.

Nanez praised all of the players for their performances but was especially effusive about Stula, who he said muscled his way into the championship finish over players who had beaten him in the regular season. Nanez said that Stula was one of the hardest-working players that he coached this year, often showing up first in the weight room and getting extra reps at night.

"That was great to see, and you could see it on his face when he won," Nanez said. "I could see all the work that he had put in go through his head like, 'Yeah, that was worth it.'"

The coach was pleased with how all of the players adjusted to adverse conditions in the South Carolina tournament, given a day of rain then high heat and humidity.

"I think the conditions at that tournament were the most brutal that I've ever experienced or seen people experience," he said. "There were kids and players cramping all over the place because you just couldn't drink enough water to keep hydrated. It was just a matter of, you know, who's going to get dehydrated first, really?

"I don't think we would have made it as far as we did if we didn't put all that work in. Everybody was tired, but I feel like we were as a whole as a team, we were fine in those conditions. I think we were – if not the hardest – we were very close to the hardest working team in the country."

The tournament started off slow for Collin, with multiple players losing their day one matches before rallying in the consolation bracket to buoy the team's hopes in the points race that determines final placement. Stula and Santiago Martinez took the Flight 3 Consolation Doubles Championship, finishing big after their first loss. Atlamis turned around his early singles loss to earn a place in the consolation final. Cristobal Tellez battled his way back from that early loss into an appearance in the consolation semifinals.

"That was the difference to be honest," Nanez said. "Their consolation points got us into got into third place, so, considering where we were after day one, to finish third is a monumental feat."

The women's team played their national tournament in Tyler, May 3-7, with the team finishing in the top quarter of all attendees. Nanez said the team had set a season goal of a top five finish and came very close to that by finishing in sixth.

Alyssa Glasgow brought home the Flight 6 Singles Consolation title, defeating a player from Mississippi Gulf Coast College. Glasgow and Marqaylar Tere battled their way into the Flight 3 Doubles quarterfinals as well. Nikoletta Pytel reached the semis for Flight 5 Singles, as did Marie-Alix Urcun for Flight 4 Singles.

Nanez said he was pleased with the sixth-place finish given the women's team's rocky start to the year.

"We were able to kind of get our heads on straight in the tournament," Nanez said. "They surprised me. We had two people make it to the semifinals.

"We had to beat Tyler and Cowley to get to that semifinal match. And traditionally, those are teams that we really haven't had much success against. So, to see that, to be a part of that, that was good. We certainly learned a lot of lessons throughout the year about how to be a good teammate, how to navigate through our season. So, I'm hoping that that benefits us next year."

Nanez said he has not had conversations with all of his athletes about their intent next year, but he believes a core group will return in the fall. He said recruiting is going well also, so he is hopeful for a good team when the new season begins.