NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's tennis team is headed back to the NCAA Division III Tournament after defeating Hanover College 5-4 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship match on Sunday.

The Fightin' Engineers are headed to their 7th consecutive NCAA Division III men's tennis tournament after winning today's championship.  Rose-Hulman has an overall record of 57-1 against HCAC opposition since 2015, and the team completed a sweep of the regular season and conference tournament titles this spring.

Both teams battled for an HCAC record 4 hours, 10 minutes before the Fightin' Engineers closed out the match with the win.  With the score tied 4-4, No. 1 singles player Joshua Giambattista provided the final championship point for Rose-Hulman in a 6-0 third set victory.  For his efforts, Giambattista was named HCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Rose-Hulman led 2-1 after doubles action, with the team of Mark Slaninka and Grant Paradowski winning 8-1 at the No. 2 flight.  Rhian Seneviratne and Arudrra Krishnan added an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles.

In singles play, Seneviratne became a double winner on the day with a 7-6, 6-2 victory at the No. 5 singles slot.  Owen Reynolds added a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the No. 3 singles flight.

Rose-Hulman takes an overall record of 11-9 into the NCAA Division III Tournament after a schedule that featured one NCAA Division I opponent, four NCAA Division II opponents and one NAIA opponent.  The Fightin' Engineers finished a perfect 5-0 in the HCAC regular season and were a perfect 2-0 in this weekend's HCAC Tournament.