May 19, 2009

Courtesy of Washington-St. Louis Athletics

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 1 ranked and defending NCAA Division III national champion Washington University men’s tennis team is headed back to the NCAA semifinals following a 5-3 win over No. 9 Gustavus Adolphus College on Tuesday, May 19, at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif.

The Bears, who were making their third-straight appearance in the NCAA quarterfinal round, improved to 22-4 overall on the year, setting a new school record for single-season wins, while extending their school-record winning streak to 19-straight matches. WU has won its last eight NCAA Tournament matches dating back to last season.

Washington University quickly staked claim to a 2-0 lead over Gustavus Adolphus on Tuesday, winning at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The twosome of sophomores Max Woods and Isaac Stein picked up an 8-3 win over Charlie Paukert and Ben Tomasek in the No. 2 match, while junior John Watts and senior Nirmal Choradia were 8-5 winners against Nick Hansen and Kevin Stickney in the No. 3 tilt.

Gustavus earned an 8-5 win in the No. 1 doubles contest to head into singles action trailing 2-1, but following a pair of straight-set singles wins Washington University was up by a score of 4-1, just one point away from its second-straight NCAA semifinal berth.

"The doubles matches were very competitive and we were able to enter singles up 2-1, but they definitely didn’t give up. They battled all the way back and made it a very tight match," Stein said.

Senior Chris Hoeland finished first, recording a 6-2, 6-4, victory over Patrick Clark at No. 6 singles, and junior Danny Levy made it 4-1 Bears following a 7-6, 6-3, win against Stickney in the No. 5 singles match. With his win over Stickney, Levy improved to 3-0 in singles action during WU’s 2009 postseason run, recording a victory in all three of the Bears’ matches thus far. He also improved to 66-13 all-time in singles competition, and 16-2 in the No. 5 position.

With victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles Gustavus Adolphus pulled within 4-3, but Stein clinched the match with a straight-set 6-3, 6-3, win against Tomasek in the No. 4 match.

"Obviously as the tournament progresses the matches are going to get tougher and tougher. Playing a match like this and really being almost pushed to the limit is great preparation for the next round," said Stein.

Washington University will face Amherst College in the NCAA Division III semifinal round on Wednesday, May 19, at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif., at 1 p.m. (PT). Amherst is ranked No. 6 in the nation and advanced to the semifinals with a 5-0 win over No. 5 Middlebury College on Tuesday.