DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – And on the third day, Gerhard Sullwald figured out how to play on clay.

Successful but inconsistent in his first two career matches on a clay court, the Bethune-Cookman University freshman put together a solid effort from start to finish Sunday as he won the Juan Varon Wildcat Invitational Men's "B" Singles championship by downing Embry-Riddle's Fernando Alonso 6-3, 6-2 at the Daytona Tennis Center.

BCU also had a doubles flight championship as Phillip Lynch and Nicolas Rodriguez took the "B" Flight with a 6-2 victory over Embry-Riddle's Tim Loerwink and Andrej Omeragic.

Sullwald needed tiebreakers to win his first two matches, but credited his mindset to his Sunday performance.

"I wanted to win and I expected to win," the freshman from South Africa said. "Movement was the biggest adjustment. It's a lot different than playing on a hard court. It felt weird running around and it wasn't a good feeling."

Knowing his game is better than it was Friday was a much better feeling for Sullwald.

"I'm very happy," Sullwald said. "I was able to improve my all-around game thanks to this tournament."

Lynch, a junior from Ireland, and Rodriguez, a freshman from Ecuador, overcame a slow start in their semifinal final match that turned after Lynch delivered a "motivational talk" with the duo down 5-4.

"We needed to be doing better, otherwise we should just shake hands and quit," Lynch said.

Rodriguez responded.

"Phillip was right," Rodriguez said. "The match would have been over in a matter of seconds if we kept playing the way we did."

Lynch took pride in both the doubles victory and their teammates' victory after BCU was shut out of a flights championship last year.

"It's our tournament," Lynch said. "We want to honor Juan with our best effort and we need to be playing our best representing him and Bethune-Cookman during this weekend."

Thirteen teams competed in the fifth annual tournament honoring Varon, a former BCU team captain who died in a 2013 traffic accident.

"I'm very proud of how the team represented itself this weekend," said Interim Head Coach Robert "Tony O'Neal. "We got better as the tournament progressed and played at a high level. This will give us momentum heading into the Spring season. Special thanks to all the former Wildcats players who helped out this weekend and a special thanks to Graduate Assistant Coach Alejandra Vidal for making the tournament a logistical success."
 
  
JUAN VARON WILDCAT INVITATIONAL FINAL RESULTS
 
MEN'S A SINGLES: Juan Couder (ERAU) d. Tim Gennes (Stetson) 6-3 3-6 (10-3)
MEN'S B SINGLES: Gerhard Sullwald  (BCU) d. Fernando Alonso (ERAU) 6-3 6-2
MEN'S C SINGLES: Andrej Omeragic (ERAU) d. Arthur Roquet (EFSC) 6-3 6-1.
MEN'S A DOUBLES: Hamel/Hillhouse (Stetson) d. Couder/Donayre (ERAU) 6-2
MEN'S B DOUBLES: Lynch/Rodriguez (BCU) d. Loerwink/Omeragic (ERAU) 6-2
 
WOMEN'S A SINGLES: Angela Diaz Plagaro (unattached) d. Anais Gabriel (Keiser) 6-4 3-6 (10-7)
WOMEN'S B SINGLES: Sabrina Ehrenfort (ERAU) d. Lisa Khamassi (Keiser) 6-1 6-0
WOMEN'S C SINGLES: Mafalda Soares (ERAU) d. Melanie Dveksler (Keiser) 6-1, 6-4
WOMEN'S A DOUBLES: Hubeaut/Nealy (FAMU) d. Borg/Durzynski (Rollins) 6-4
WOMEN'S B DOUBLES: Gabriel/ Yeardly (Keiser) d. Ehrenfort/Mautner (ERAU ) 6-4