Collegiate pickleball clubs were dialing in their games in Glendale, Arizona, this past weekend. The DUPR Collegiate Arizona Super Regional was held at The Pickleball Space on Saturday and Sunday.
Here is a breakdown of the teams that attended:
- ASU - 6 teams
- GCU - 4 teams
- Utah Tech - 2 teams
- *UCLA - 1 team
- *Arizona - 1 team
- *UT Arlington - 1 team
*Note: The DUPR Collegiate Team Nationals, which takes place in less than two weeks, only allows one team bid per school. UCLA, Arizona, and UT Arlington all earned their automatic bid to the Team Nationals while playing this weekend. ASU, GCU, and Utah Tech had already qualified in earlier super regionals.
Winners and payouts
Team Bracket
- Utah Tech #1 - $2,500
- ASU #1 - 1,250
- GCU - $500
- GCU - $500
5-8. Arizona, GCU #3, UT Arlington, Utah Tech #2 - $250
Challenger Bracket
Southern Utah University won the Challenger Bracket and $250
Recap of the Bracket
Saturday involved pool play, which consisted of three pools of five teams. The top eight from pool play made it to the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Semifinal Action
The action picked up during the semifinals. Utah Tech, ASU, and two teams from GCU advanced to the semifinals.
ASU #1 played against GCU #2 in semi-final number one - the closest match of the playoffs. The ASU ladies, Halie Kealoha and Zoe Hugos, won a nailbiter over Aly Evanson and Sophia Gargiulo, 21-19, to start the match.
Next, Josh Leivas and Nathan Tang from ASU beat Xavier NcCorchuk and Adam Jones in men’s doubles in another extremely close match, 21-19. Tang and Kealoha finished the 3-0 sweep over a very dangerous GCU team, 21-17.
Jones and NcCorchuk celebrate a point In the second semi-final, Utah Tech #1 swept GCU’s top team, including GCU's best player, Artur Fonseca – though he did a great job keeping them close in the matches.
GCU's getting two teams to the semi-finals was impressive. Both of those teams put up a great fight, and they are going to make some noise in the Team Nationals next weekend.
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Utah Tech #1 had a combined DUPR of 21.114 going into the tournament, while ASU #1 had a combined DUPR of 17.066. It is impressive to average a full point per player over the competition, and Utah Tech looked dominant in their 3-0 sweep over ASU in the finals.
Monson and Ciampini, with Ciampini about to serveDylan Ciampini and Mary Monson beat Hugos and Kealoha, 21-14. The Utah Tech ladies didn’t lose a game all weekend.
The men’s doubles final was easily the most entertaining match to watch on the weekend. You can see it here:
Liam Duffin and Benson Parry took on Leivas and Tang. ASU started down 3-8, in the rally scoring to 21 format. Utah Tech was able to switch sides at 11-6, in a comfortable lead. They kept that lead going, getting to 19-15, when ASU called a timeout.
The timeout turned out to be a good one because they started clawing their way back with the freeze on Utah Tech’s serve. At 20-16, Utah Tech had game point on their paddle, and ASU fought off four more game points, tying the game at 20-20.
ASU then had two game points but couldn’t make a third shot to get into the kitchen. Utah Tech took the lead back, and after two more game points on their paddle, Utah Tech won 26-24.
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Liam Duffin and Dylan Ciampini remained undefeated on the weekend in mixed doubles to close out the victory for Utah Tech. This is Utah Tech’s second Super Regional win, as they also won the Nevada Super Regional.
Standout Players
Since the match of the event was the men’s doubles final, I am going to highlight all four of those players.
Liam Duffin
Duffin was the best player in Glendale. The entire Utah Tech team was dominant, not losing a game. Duffin proved why he has a top-10 rated DUPR in collegiate pickleball.
He has good reach and very good athleticism. His defense is elite, which he demonstrated in his two games in the finals. In mixed doubles, he is a menace, seemingly taking over a large part of the court and constantly on the attack.
Parry and Duffin strategizing during a timeoutBenson Parry
Parry is a very good right-side player in men’s doubles, and he keeps a calm composure throughout his matches.
In my opinion, Parry has a tough job in these team matches. He has to go from playing a solid right side in men’s to then turning right around and playing a big left side in mixed doubles. He does his job very well, with sneaky attacks and an overall high level of consistency.
Nathan Tang
Tang is another player who is a top 10 rated DUPR player in college pickleball. He is a good mover with all the shots and plays a very good left side.
Tang has been playing for a long time and definitely showed that he is one of the best college pickleball players in Glendale. He will be bringing a lot of positive momentum into Team Nationals next weekend.
Leivas and Tang waiting to hit the third shotJoshua Leivas
Leivas has a deceptively low DUPR score, going into the weekend with a 3.7. He held his own against GCU #2 and Utah Tech #1 in men’s doubles.
All of his opponents in the semis and finals have a DUPR above 5.0. Leivas proved he is much closer to a 5.0 player than his 3.7 DUPR rating and he is also bringing positive momentum into Team Nationals. He plays a solid right side with Tang and counters extremely well.
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