The first National Collegiate Padel Championships came to a close this April with an emphatic statement: collegiate padel in the United States has arrived. More than 80 competitors from universities across the country gathered to contest the inaugural title across competitive and social divisions, and when the final balls were struck, it was Longhorn Padel from the University of Texas at Austin who stood atop both the Men’s and Women’s Division 1 podiums.

The event was organized and run by the Longhorn Padel officer team, whose commitment to growing padel on campus has made UT Austin one of the country’s most active collegiate clubs. Its success has already set the tone for what comes next.

Men’s Division 1: A Perfect Run to the Title

Matthew Pollock and Rodrigo Ortiz entered the tournament as one of the pairs to watch, and they delivered on that billing without dropping a single match. In Group A, the Longhorn pair swept through the round-robin stage 3-0 on their way to finishing first and booking a semifinal spot. Sam Weisleder and Spencer Richards finished second in the group, also securing their place in the semifinals.

Group B produced one of the tightest round-robin stages of the day. Three pairs, Kris Bikkina and Antonio Moschella, Avery Gilbert and Alberto Ramos Gutierrez, and Juan Jose Pinzon and Sergio Talero, all finished at 2-1, making for a closely contested group that required the calculation of sets and games won to determine the two semi-final qualifiers. Bikkina and Moschella advanced as group winners, with Gilbert and Ramos Gutierrez joining them in the semifinals.

In the final four, Bikkina and Moschella met Spencer Richards and Sam Weisleder from Group A in what became one of the matches of the day. Richards and Weisleder held on in a hard-fought third-set tiebreak to advance to the final. On the other side of the draw, Pollock and Ortiz saw off Gilbert and Ramos Gutierrez 6-4, 6-3 to set up a championship match against their own Group A rivals.

The final was a rematch of their round-robin encounter, and Pollock and Ortiz dominated the game to be crowned the first-ever Men’s Division 1 National Collegiate Padel Champions. Both players represent the University of Texas at Austin.

Women’s Division 1: Tolentino and Avina Seal a Historic Double

On the women’s side, Montserrat Tolentino and Emma Avina, also of Longhorn Padel, claimed the Division 1 title over Laura Rivera and Chloe Wright in the final. It was a dominant display from the UT Austin pair, who produced some of the cleanest padel of the weekend to complete an extraordinary day for their program.

The result gave the University of Texas a sweep of both top collegiate titles in the sport’s first-ever national championship, a moment that will likely be remembered for years as the program that first set the standard.

National Reach, Campus Roots

The championship drew students from more than 10 universities, with competitors traveling from outside Texas to compete. Columbia University represented New York, Florida International University brought a contingent from Florida, and Emory University represented Georgia. The event’s reach reflected how far collegiate padel has spread in a short period and how strong students’ appetite is to compete at a national level.

Beyond the competitive draws, the tournament also featured social divisions that gave players of all levels a chance to experience championship-format competition. The combination made for an event that was both welcoming and competitive.

“Seeing this many students from universities all across the country come together for a padel championship is something I did not expect to happen this quickly,” said Manuel Avina, USPA Board Member, who was in attendance throughout the weekend. “The level of play was impressive, but what really stood out was the community these student clubs have built. Longhorn Padel and the other clubs here today have shown everyone what collegiate padel can look like. This is just the beginning.”

What Comes Next

The success of the National Collegiate Padel Championships has opened the door for more. Longhorn Padel and several other university clubs have already announced plans to host fall classic USPA tournaments later in the year, giving more students the chance to compete under the USPA umbrella before the 2027 edition of the national championships.

For the USPA, the event marks a concrete step in building a competition pathway from campus to international stage. The 2026 calendar already includes U.S. representation at the FISU World University Championships of Padel in Malaga, Spain, and events like this one are how players earn their place on that roster.

Students at universities across the country can register their clubs with USPA Collegiate Padel. 

Division 1 Champions

Men’s Division 1: Matthew Pollock and Rodrigo Ortiz (University of Texas at Austin)

Women’s Division 1: Montserrat Tolentino and Emma Avina (University of Texas at Austin)

View the complete draws, tournament brackets, and results here