Three Villanova law students have won an international baseball arbitration competition at Tulane Law School in New Orleans, demonstrating superior skills in what can be the tensest part of sports, writes Colin Beazley for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

David Brake, Alex Schaff, and Alyssa Rodarte are part of Villanova’s Sports Law Negotiation Team, and they participated in mock arbitration hearings that involved a player and his agents arguing for a higher salary while those in opposition list reasons why the player is worth less.

The Villanova team topped 40 other law schools around the country, making arbitration cases for and against MLB players.

The two-day competition was judged by a panel of agents, union representatives, and front office members.

Brake has competed multiple times and has performed better each year.

“For me, my dream was [just to compete in] it,” Brake said, “ … To have it peak like that was a very goosebumps type of feeling.”

The competition has been held annually since 2007, with similar events for football, basketball, soccer, and hockey. 

Villanoa’s team has made it to the semifinals in three of the past four baseball competitions; This was its first win.

Get a blow-by-blow on the two-day baseball arbitration competition and find out what’s next for this successful law team in The Philadelphia Inquirer.