For the first time since 2009, a national championship has been claimed on Rocky Top, this time by “The Rock and Hammer.”

Tennis doubles partners Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese defeated Ohio State for the doubles championship at the University of Georgia May 23.

Libietis and Reese defeated fourth seed Ohio State in a three set tie-breaking match 7-6, 6-7 and 7-6.

“I don’t know if it’s set in or not,” Reese said.

This NCAA doubles championship is only the second in program history. Rodney Harmon and Mel Purcell won the last title in 1980.

“We’ve had a lot of success here at Tennessee, but to be in that league is special,” Reese said.

The Buckeyes’ duo Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka proved to be stiff competition.

“I knew that they were a really good team,” Libietis said. “They were the best team we have faced all year.”

The match was never an easy point for the Vols champs.

“They serve incredibly well and they keep the pressure on you,” Reese said.

“I’ve watched the replay of the match and it blows my mind how incredibly close it really was. Close doesn’t cut it. It was more than close.”

Libietis and Reese had chances to take the opening set outright, however the Buckeyes used big serves to force a tiebreaker, which the Vols won through an error off the net by Kobelt.

The Vols had two match points in the second set, but Ohio State forced the tiebreaker. UT led early, but Ohio State won six straight points to win the set.

In the third set, Libietis and Reese had three match points, but Ohio State evened the score. Metka double-faulted in the tiebreaker, giving Libietis a chance to close the match.

In their play Libietis and Reese have earned the nickname, “The Rock and Hammer.”

“Mikelis is the hammer and I am the rock,” Reese said.

“Coach Woodruff used that nickname in a way to explain to us how to play. He said Mikelis, you’re the hammer, you’ll make all these unbelievable shots with all the power on your serve and Hunter, you’re the rock. You’ll stay steady the whole time, never too up, never too down. You guys need one another; you’re not going to be successful without one another. It was his way of explaining our roles as doubles teammates. It just stuck.”

Libietis and Reese have rest planned for the coming weeks before both will play professionally this summer.

“I’m going to take a couple weeks off and then I have a couple of small professional events planned for the summer,” Reese said. “My end goal is to play professional tennis.”

Libietis has similar plans for his summer.

“I’m going to take a little time off and get some rest for my body, and then go back home to Latvia and play some professional tournaments and get ready for the fall,” he said.

Libeietis and Reese are both rising seniors, and will return to Tennessee tennis in the fall to defend their doubles championship.