BOILING SPRINGS, N.C – The roar from the Gardner-Webb tennis courts was deafening when Breno Plentz won on court three to give the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs a share of the Big South regular season crown and #1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament. The 4-2 defeat of the Longwood Lancers gave Gardner-Webb a nearly unblemished 7-1 Big South record.

"I'm proud of our team," said head coach Mike Griffith. "This victory was not just because of today; it's something we've been building and working towards since 2002. Everybody who has played at Gardner-Webb should take pride in what we just accomplished."

After multiple rain delays, a match that was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ended under dark skies just after 8:30 p.m. with the Runnin' Bulldogs earning their first regular season title in Big South history. Prior to Saturday, Griffith's team had a previous best of second place (2016-17) during the regular season.

Before first serve, Griffith and assistant coach Matt Parker honored seniors Maximilian Scholl and Johan Fors.

"Max and Johan are both so unselfish," said Griffith. "They both led by example, but the whole team was all about achieving one goal. I want them to play free in the Big South tournament. We've secured the #1 seed and have accomplished a lot, but we're not finished. Any team in our conference can win the tournament, so we've got to take it one day at a time."

When the match began, the Runnin' Bulldogs (12-7, 7-1 Big South) got off to a quick start with two doubles wins by a combined 12-5 score. At No. 2, Johan Fors and Ross Gilbert won, 6-3, and Plentz and Stefano Puga won at No. 3 with a 6-3 win over Guillermo Cagigas and Raisei Sakai.

With a 1-0 lead, Gardner-Webb quickly won on courts four and five in singles play to extend its lead to 3-0. Fors was first off the court at No. 5 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Marc Casasnovas, and Gilbert quickly followed with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Sakai.

Longwood (13-8, 3-5 Big South) pulled within a match, 3-2, with victories in the No. 6 and 2 positions. The Lancers' Rosen Naydenov won on court six, 6-4, 6-3, and Guilherme Sergio earned a three-set win at No. 2, 7-5, 2-6, 3-0 (win by retirement).

Ahead by one match, Plentz sent the crowd, many of whom waited out multiple rain delays, into a frenzy. Plentz defeated Sakai in set one, 6-2 and won a tiebreaker in set two, 7-6 (6). The Porto Alegre, Brazil native had five match points in his victory, which was his 11^th of the year.

Gardner-Webb ended the regular season with a 12-7 overall record and 7-1 mark in Big South play. Four players – Maximilian Scholl, Millen Hurrion, Plentz and Fors – recorded double-digit wins in singles action. Scholl led the way with a 17-1 record at No. 1 singles. After falling in the season opener at Wake Forest, he reeled off 17 consecutive victories with his match on Saturday going unfinished.

Hurrion played in the No. 2 flight and was 14-3 overall. Plentz (No. 3 singles) notched 11 victories with Fors earning 10 wins. Fors spent time in the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions respectively.

The men's tennis tournament will be played on the campus of Radford University and will begin on Wednesday, April 17. Gardner-Webb will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 18 at 9 a.m. against the winner of the USC Upstate vs. Hampton match that is scheduled for the previous day. The semifinals will be played on Friday, April 19 with the championship match set for 12 noon on Saturday, April 20. The winner of the Big South Conference tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.