Victories in the fifth and sixth singles matches by senior Chaitanya Aduru and graduate student Jonathan Powell, respectively, helped the Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team fend off an upset-minded Denison University squad in a 5-4 victory over the Big Red in Granville, Ohio on Saturday afternoon.
The win raises the Spartans' record to 4-1 on the year, while Denison dropped to 2-1 following the setback.
The Spartans got on the board with a win at no. 2 doubles, as sophomores Sahil Dayal and Vishwa Aduru claimed an 8-6 win over Colin Gramley and Andy Mackler. Denison responded with a win at no. 1 doubles, with Timmy Cianciola and Jack Bulger besting junior James Hopper and Powell 8-7. However, CWRU jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles behind an 8-6 win from Chaitanya Aduru and junior Michael Sutanto at third doubles against Blake Eason and Marc Lennart Harms.
Denison evened the team score at 2-2 with the first singles win of the day, as Cianciola defeated Hopper 7-5, 6-1, but the Spartans regained the lead with a 6-4, 6-1 win at no. 4 singles from first-year Ansh Shah over Mackler. The Big Red responded again, this time with a win from Bulger in the second singles match, 7-5, 7-5 over Vishwa Aduru, and took a 4-3 lead over the Spartans with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory from Harms over Sutanto in the third singles match.
With the team's back against the wall, Powell was able to knot the score again, picking up a 6-1, 6-1 win in the sixth singles match over Daniel Garcia, shifting all the attention to the match-deciding fifth singles contest between Chaitanya Aduru and Ryan Patrick. Patrick won the opening set 6-3, but Aduru bounced back for a 6-4 win in the second set to even the score, and then won the third set 6-3 to secure the team win for the Spartans.
Case Western Reserve, winner of 23-straight regular season matches against Division III opposition, will now turn its attention towards the 2022 ITA Division III Men's Indoor National Championships next weekend, which the Spartans will be hosting at the Mayfield Village Racquet Club in Mayfield, Ohio. CWRU will be the top-seeded team in the event and will open play at the tournament against eighth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25. For more information on the ITA Indoor Nationals, go to https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/events/events-division3-mens-indoors/.
