The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team rallied from an early deficit on Tuesday afternoon to defeat Washington University (Mo.) 5-4 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championships at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Spartans will now aim to become the first National Championship winning team in the history of Case Western Reserve athletics, when the squad faces Emory University in the title match on Wednesday afternoon.
Fans can follow the National Championship match on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. with live video at https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule and live results at http://scores.tennisticker.de/usa/sewanee/lp.html?lid=240.
The Spartans, who improved to 14-2 overall and to 12-0 against Division III opposition this season, overcame a 2-1 deficit after doubles, and trailed by a set in three of the six singles matches, but were able to battle back to earn the victory.
The first two doubles matches finished at nearly the same time, with the Spartans and the Bears splitting the contests. In a battle between the top-ranked two teams in the Central Region at no. 1 doubles, senior Matthew Chen and James Hopper, ranked first in the region, claimed an 8-3 win over Scott Altmeyer and Abhi Ramireddy, ranked second in the region. At third doubles, junior Chaitanya Aduru and senior Anthony Kanam suffered an 8-3 setback against Ethan Hillis and Guarav Singh, putting all of the attention on the second doubles match, to see which team would enter singles play with an advantage.
The second doubles match proved to be a thriller. CWRU seniors Neil Mabee and Jonathan Powell came from behind to force a tiebreaker against Daniel Li and Ben van der Sman. However, the Bears' duo was able to pull out the tiebreaker 7-3, giving Washington a 2-1 lead heading into the singles matches.
Chaitanya Aduru would strike the first blow in singles play for the Spartans, winning in straight sets over Li in the fourth singles match, 6-4, 6-1, knotting the team score at 2-2. However, the Bears regained the lead shortly thereafter, as Altmeyer, ranked fifth in the region, triumphed over first-year Vishwa Aduru 6-3, 6-1 at second singles. At sixth singles, Kanam would even the score once again, picking up a straight-set win over Singh, 7-5, 6-4.
The remaining three matches would all go into a third set. In a battle at no. 1 singles, Hillis, ranked second in the Central Region, emerged with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Hopper, ranked first in the region, putting the Bears a point away from a clinch.
The Spartans responded once again. This time, it was Chen, who came from behind at no. 3 singles to pick up a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over van der Sman, and even the team score at 4-4 with one match left to be decided.
The contest came down to another marathon three-set match at fifth singles between Powell and Ramireddy. The two split the first two sets, both by tiebreakers, with Powell taking the first stanza 7-6 (0), and Ramireddy following with a 7-6 (5) win in the second set to even the score. With all eyes on their match, Powell was able to pull out a 6-4 victory in the third set, clinching the first National Championship berth by a Spartan team in the history of CWRU athletics.
The loss ended a 14-match winning streak for the Bears, and was their first of the season to a Division III opponent. Washington's season came to a close with a 14-2 overall record.
The Spartans will now turn their attention towards their National Championship opponent, Emory, which improved to 9-3 overall on the season with a 5-1 win over Johns Hopkins in their semifinal match on Tuesday. The Eagles are making their 11th appearance in the National Championship, and have won five NCAA Division III titles previously, including two of the last three.
Emory is the top-ranked team in the Atlantic South Region, and features the region's top-ranked singles player in Hayden Cassone, along with the top-ranked doubles pairing of Cassone and Antonio Mora.
