ERIE, Pa.—The Baron tennis team played down to the wire in the AMCC Championship match, tying it up at 4-4 with one match left to be the deciding factor. In the end the Barons held onto their undefeated conference record and won against Pitt. Greensburg, 5-4.

The team clinched their third title in four years and will now move on to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

"My heart has slowed down, it was beating rather quickly," head coach Jeremy Ellis said after the team solidified the win. "It was intense but it was great."

It came down to sophomore Zachary Quiza's No. 2 singles match to push the Barons over the edge to secure the victory. But before it came down to his match, it was a back and forth battle as Greensburg would go up and then Franciscan would even it out.

The FUS team came out a little shaky from the start in doubles, only winning two of the three. No. 1 doubles team of Paul Jarzynka and Quiza cranked out an 8-4 victory and No. 2 doubles Luke Merry and David Freytag won their match 8-3.

"I told them going in we wanted to start with all 3 doubles winning because it just eases some of the pressure but we lost No. 3 doubles," Ellis said. "Going into singles down 2-1 changes the dynamics of play and can shake your confidence."

With a little less padding in the score then they were used to, the Barons began singles play.

One match after the other kept the team on their toes in nerve-racking fashion.

Joseph Staniszewski at No. 6 singles had a slow start but battled back in his second set vying to split sets but fell to his opponent, 6-1, 7-5, in the end bringing the overall score to 2-2.

Senior team captain Jarzynka faced a tough opponent at No. 1 singles and lost 6-3, 6-2, putting Greensburg up 3-2.

"His player specifically got ready for Paul and played really well," Ellis said. "Paul fought back but lost it in the end."

Then at No. 5 singles Robert Butcher split his sets, taking his match into the third set which bought the Barons a little more time. In that time Merry handily won his match, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles to tie up the teams at 3-3.

"The match was really tight all the way down the line up until the end," Ellis said. "The guys prepared for this and stayed mentally tough."

With No. 5, No. 2 and No. 3 singles all on the courts, the Barons needed to secure two of the three to pull out the win.

At No. 3 Freytag grabbed a 6-4, 6-3 win to push the Barons into the lead 4-3 but then Butcher at No. 5 lost, tying up the match at 4-4 with only one more match in play.

At No. 2 singles Quiza was the last Baron player on the courts fighting for his team. Quiza won his first set 6-2 then lost his second 6-3 sending him into playing a third set.

"It was epic, Zach needed the motivation and we had all the guys out on the court," Ellis said. "They just gave him the energy to finish the match."

With the full support from his teammates Quiza won out his last few points with intensity and won the third and final set 6-2 to secure the Baron victory.

"I was nervous but Coach told me to calm down and to trust myself," Quiza said. "So, I stayed positive and tried to play my game and the whole team was encouraging the whole time which helped me be focused."

His focus and positivity paid off as he pulled out the win. After he clinched the win and shook his opponent's hand, his teammates rushed the court and tackled him out of excitement.

"Everyone was super pumped," Quiza said. "As a team this victory just shows that we were able to pull through. Even when it was hard everyone was fighting in every single match no matter the result. It just shows that we're a strong team that doesn't give up."

This win for the Barons was a complete team effort from top to bottom. After a nearly flawless conference season, the Barons finished on a high note with a lot of energy to move on to the NCAA tournament.

Ellis said that it has been quite the feat to win three titles, to have won runner-up in the last four years and to go to the NCAA tournament for a second time.

"At the end of it after we won it there was a lot of emotion," Ellis said. "It's an emotional time, we're losing three of our players one being our four year captain and you can't end on a more epic match."

Ellis said the team looks forward to getting some rest this week and then focusing on preparing to compete in the tournament.