Case Western Reserve and Coach Todd Wojtkowski, USPTA professional win NCAA DIII Championship - Cont'd...

“We take so much pride in doubles,” Wotjkowski said. “I always say where you can find out where all the coaching and development happens is on the doubles court, because there is so much strategy involved and so much practice. Most kids don’t grow up working on that.”

Tufts (24-2) answered with the first win in singles as Acaroglu beat Shah 6-2, 6-2 at No 4. Case Western’s Ajay Mahenthiran put the Spartans one win away from the title with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Javier Gonzalez.

Taking in all the action courtside were the Michigan and Virginia Men’s teams. The NCAA is holding a combined championship this year, with Division I, II and III all playing at the USTA National Campus.

“How cool is that to have two of the final eight (Division I) teams literally on the sideline rooting for our guys. That is unbelievable,” Wojtkowski said “I have envisioned that for the past 364 days All I thought is we just have to get there. If we get there, I know it will happen.”

Tufts didn’t make it easy for Case Western. Andrej Djokic beat Casey Hishinuma 6-3, 7-6 to cut the deficit to 42 It fittingly gave the chance for Hopper to clinch the title He turned last season’s heartbreak into this season’s history to set off a cathartic celebration by the Spartans.

The 33 wins are the most in program history. Hopper’s doubles win was the 124th of his career, giving him sole possession of first place in the program record books Case Western’s senior class finished with a 90-13 record over the last four seasons.

But it was the NCAA title that mattered most. After years of disappointments, the Spartans finally hoisted the trophy together

“Someone has to pinch me. I feel like I am still dreaming,” Hopper said. “Crazy, crazy way to end.”