EFSC's Mottlau and Sormaz win national title in doubles

Eastern Florida State College men's tennis players Johan Mottlau and Filip Sormaz won the NJCAA Division I National Championship at No. 2 doubles on Thursday in Texas.

Mottlau and Sormaz defeated Pratt's Kenta Kawada and Thiofhi Tshivhase in straight sets to win the title and become the second doubles team in program history to win a national championship.

The first set was back and forth as Mottlau and Sormaz got the break and then were broken to make it 2-2. The Pratt duo took a 4-2 lead but the Titans responded with another break to tie things 4-4.

It would be tied 6-6 with Mottlau and Sormaz picking up the gutsy win in a tight 8-6 tiebreaker, posting the 7-6 win in the first set.

They continued to play well and jumped out to a 4-0 lead and continued playing well, locking up the title with a 6-2 win.

Mottlau and Sormaz came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in No. 2 doubles and defeated the No. 5 seed before beating the No. 1 seed to make the final. Then in the final they defeated the No. 2 seed for the title.

"I am excited for Johan and Filip for winning the National Championship!! I am so proud of them and know that they are outstanding young men as well as I had the privilege of coaching them in the fall. So happy for both of them," Eastern Florida State College Associate Vice President of Athletics Jeff Carr said.

Mottlau and Sormaz join the doubles team of Tomas Reche and Bernardo Vieira who won the No. 3 doubles title back in 2021.