The third-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team earned its third-straight berth into the University Athletic Association Championship match with a 5-2 win over fourth-ranked Emory University in the semifinals at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida on Friday afternoon.

The Spartans, seeded second in the tournament, will face nationally second-ranked and top-seeded Chicago for the UAA Championship at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. It will be the second meeting this season between the two squads, after CWRU bested Chicago 4-3 in the first round of the ITA Indoor Nationals on April 23.

CWRU has now won 12 straight matches to improve to 25-4 overall on the season, while Emory dropped to 15-5 with the loss.

The Spartans came out of a highly competitive set of doubles matches with a 2-1 lead thanks to a tiebreaking win in the no. 1 doubles contest from graduate student Diego Maza and senior Vishwa Aduru. The score was tied at 1-1 after senior Daniel French and graduate student Michael Sutanto fell to Christian Liew and Justin Waldman 8-3 at no. 3 doubles and senior Sahil Dayal and sophomore Anmay Devaraj bested Nolan Shah and Dean Kamenev (ranked fifth in Division III) 8-6 at no. 2 doubles. Maza and Aduru, ranked second in Division III, were able to put CWRU ahead for the first time in the match with an 8-7 (6) win over nationally 14th-ranked Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen.

Fueled by the momentum of the big doubles win, junior Ajay Mahenthiran (ranked eighth in Division III) bested Kamenev (ranked seventh) 6-4, 6-3 at no. 1 singles to put CWRU in front 3-1. After junior Casey Hishinuma (ranked 37th) dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Liew at fifth singles, junior Ansh Shah claimed a 6-0, 6-2 win against Waldman at fourth singles to give CWRU a 4-2 lead. Sutanto (ranked 32nd in DIII) would provide the match-clinching win for the Spartans with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Glanville in the third singles match.

The Spartans were up a set on each of the remaining two singles courts when play was stopped with Aduru (ranked 50th) leading Shah 6-2, 2-4 and Maza ahead of Emilio Van Cotthem 6-4, 3-2.

CWRU will now turn its focus toward a repeat as the UAA Champion. Fans can follow the title match between the Spartans and the Maroons with live results at https://www.ioncourt.com/ties/662c23a57d56309d9fbe6993.