The Lewis and Clark Community College men's tennis team wrapped up its National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Tournament play in Plano, Texas, this month, tying Temple College for 12th place.

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"I'm proud of this team," Head Coach James Humphrey said. "Each member played with a lot of heart and made every game count."

On the final day of play, Lewis and Clark's Cameron Randall, of Edwardsville, and Neil Berkel, of Troy, played in No. 1 and No. 2 singles consolation finals, respectively.

Randall came out making his opponent Jack Busby, a sophomore from Cowley College, hit a lot of shots. Busby was hitting hard, but having a difficult time keeping the ball in the court. At 2-2, Randall reeled off four games in a row, including some really aggressive points to finish out the first set.

In the second set, Busby began taking the pace out of his shots and the game with an apparent injury. Randall tried to be aggressive with the weaker shots, but Busby hit many good passing shots and turned the tables. In the end, Randall lost the second set 6-0 and the final set tiebreak 10-2.

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Berkel played No. 1 seed Hector Ramirez Rodriguez from Laredo Community College. Rodriquez had a big forehand that he would miss occasionally, but he wasn't too generous to Berkel, according to Humphrey, defeating him 6-1, 6-0.

The Lewis and Clark Trailblazers finished with 18 points and tied with Temple for 12th place out of 26 teams. Tyler Junior College won the tournament with 47 points.

"We accomplished our goal of placing in the top half of the national tournament against some very competitive teams," Coach Humphrey said. "It was a validation of the hard work our team put in through the entire 2012-2013 school year."

Earlier this spring, the team won its Region 24 Division Championship and earned a trip to Nationals by posting a 9-0 win against Kaskasia College.

This marks the fourth consecutive season the men's team has won the Region 24 Championship.

To view and download photos of the men's tennis team, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewisandclarkcc/sets/72157632929055973/.

Visit the national tournament site at http://www.collin.edu/athletics/national_tourn/.

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