CMS and Emory set for Championship Title

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ITA Wilson tennis balls

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps def. University of Chicago, 5-4

The Maroons of Chicago lost a close 5-4 decision to the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first semifinal match of the day.

The No. 4-ranked Maroons (5-1 record) and the No. 2-ranked Stags (9-0) have played each other three times in the past four years of the NCAA postseason. On Saturday, the foes came in as the third and second seeds, respectively, in the eight-team ITA indoor tournament.

CMS threatened to go up 3-0 after doubles, after capturing wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. However, the No. 1 duo of Erik Kerrigan and Jeremy Yuan prevailed in a tiebreaker 8-7 to halve the deficit.

Singles split evenly with three victories for each team. The middle of the Maroon lineup came through clutch. Alex Guzhva was the first match done at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph. Yuan prevailed at No. 4 with scores of 6-3, 7-5. First-year Sachin Das rallied from a one-set deficit to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3.

While CMS will head to the Championship tomorrow at the Swanson Tennis Center at 8am CST, Chicago will play the third-place match at Lifetime Fitness, Bloomington at 9am CST.

Emory University def. Brandeis University, 5-4

The No. 1-ranked Emory men’s tennis team moved into the finals after posting an exciting victory over Brandeis in the semifinal round.  The Eagles upped their spring record to 3-1 after registering a 5-4 decision over the No. 8-ranked Judges who slipped to 2-1.

Emory trailed by a 2-1 count after the conclusion of doubles, losing at Nos. 1 & 2 before the No. 3 team of Andrew Esses and Hassan Kenawi got the Eagles on the board with an 8-7 win over Colt Tegtmeier and Rajan Vohra.

After Antonio Mora evened the match at 2-2 with his 6-3, 6-3 victory over Anupreeth Coramutla at No. 2 singles, Esses gave Emory the lead for good when he scrapped to a 6-2, 7-6 outcome against Adam Tzeng at No. 3. Kenawi kept the momentum going with his win over Simon Kauppila at No. 6, 7-5, 6-1, putting the Eagles one point from clinching.  After the Judges drew to within 4-3 following a win at first singles, both the Nos. 5 & 6 matches went into third sets. Rex Serituk came out on top at the five spot, rallying for a 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 decision over Nikhil Das, clinching the match.

Emory will face-off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Sunday’s title match at the Swanson Tennis Center. First serve is slated for 8am CST.

Case Western Reserve University def. Kenyon College, 7-2

CWRU claimed victory with a 7-2 upset win over Kenyon College.

The Spartans swept through the three doubles matches to carry a 3-0 lead into doubles play. Zach Hennessey and Jonathan Powell struck first at No. 2 doubles, defeating Pascal Lee and Thomas Kallarakal, 8-2. Neil Mabee and Anthony Kanam followed at No. 3 doubles with an 8-4 win over Evan Dean and Bryan Yoshino. At No. 1 doubles, James Hopper and Matthew Chen overcame an early deficit to take down Austin Diehl and Jacob Zalenski, 8-6.

Aaron Umen put the Spartans ahead 4-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Lee at No. 3 singles, and Chaitanya Aduru locked the match up with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over Dean.

Powell added to the Spartans’ advantage at No. 4 singles with a 6-0, 7-6 win over Kallarkal. Kenyon was finally able to get on the board with a three-set win from Diehl over Chen at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 1-6, 13-11, before Kanam picked up a 6-2, 7-6 win at No. 5 singles. At No. 1 singles, Hopper fell in a heart-breaker to sixth-ranked Zalenski 7-6, 7-6.

The Spartans will face WashU tomorrow morning at 9am CST in Minneapolis at Lifetime Fitness, Lakeville while Kenyon College will face Gustavus at the completion of the Championship match at the Swanson Tennis Center.

Gustavus Adolphus College def. Washington University in St. Louis, 6-3

The Gusties came out strong during the doubles point, claiming a lead over the Bears of WashU at 2-1 after an 8-7 breaker victory at No. 3 doubles.

In doubles play at No. 1, Yassine Derbani and Nick Aney took down Sam Komis and Daniel Li, 8-4, while the No. 3 pair of Xavier Sanga and Alex Budde claimed victory over Ethan Hillis and Mark Wu, 8-7(11-9). The Bears only win at doubles came with J.J. Kroot and Bernardo Neves over Michael O’Neil and Daniel Fouchier.

The Bears swept through singles claiming 5 of 6 courts. The clinch for WashU came at No. 3 singles as Daniel Li overcame Indraneel Raut, 7-6, 6-4.

WashU will take on CWRU tomorrow at 9am CST in Minneapolis at Lifetime Fitness, Lakeville, while Gustavus will take on Kenyon College tomorrow at 11:30am CST at the Swanson Tennis Center.

Live match scores and online streaming for the ITA Division III National Men’s Team Indoor Championship will be available courtesy of Gustavus Adolphus College. There will be no streaming/live score options for the 3rd and 5th Place matches.

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