Claremont, WashU, Emory, Middlebury advance to semifinals
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| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Ronald Wu leaps for a volley alongside partner Mike Starr during their 8-5 win over Williams at No. 3 doubles. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
LEWISTON, Maine — Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College and Washington University of St. Louis advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships, after winning the two final team quarterfinals Tuesday at Bates College.
Claremont prevailed over Williams College 5-2 in the most hotly contested quarterfinal of the day, followed by a 5-0 win for Washington University of Gustavus Adolphus College.
Wednesday’s semifinals will pit Middlebury (18-5) against Emory (18-6) at 10 a.m., followed by Washington (19-4) against Claremont (26-7) at 2 p.m.
The Stags of Claremont swept the doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead over the Ephs of Williams heading into singles. But the Ephs fought valiantly at each spot in singles, threatening to unseat the Stags, who entered the quarterfinals after unseating 2007 NCAA champion UC Santa Cruz in the West Regionals.
Williams claimed the first two singles matches to be decided, with Gary Simonette handling Mike Starr 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, followed soon after by Jeremy Weinberger’s 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Drew Sabater at No. 4.
Claremont regained some momentum as Russell Brockett narrowly defeated Karol Furmaga at No. 5, giving the Stags a 4-2 lead. Lawrence Wang clinched the win for Claremont with a stirring 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Williams’ Dan Greenberg.
In the evening match, Washington leapt out to a quick 3-0 lead after doubles, but the Golden Gusties gave the Bears a battle in several singles matches. Andy Bryan won the first set at No. 1 singles over John Watts of Washington, but Isaac Stein defeated Kevin Stickney in the first singles decision at No. 6, followed minutes later by Chris Hoeland’s clinching 6-0, 7-5 victory over Aaron Zenner at No. 5.
The Stags of Claremont swept the doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead heading into singles. But the Ephs fought valiantly at each spot in singles, threatening to unseat the Stags, who entered the quarterfinals after unseating 2007 NCAA champion UC Santa Cruz in the West Regionals.
Williams claimed the first two singles matches to be decided, with Gary Simonette handling Mike Starr 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, followed soon after by Jeremy Weinberger’s 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Drew Sabater at No. 4.
Quarterfinals 1 and 2
Emory University and Middlebury College took care of business with victories in the first two team quarterfinals Tuesday at the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships at Bates College. Emory opened the day with a 5-1 victory over Kenyon, and Middlebury defeated the University of Mary Washington 5-0 in the following quarterfinal. The teams will meet in the team semifinals Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Bates’ Wallach Tennis Center.
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| Emory senior Hardy Ehlers clinched the first match of the day at No. 5 singles. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
Hardy Ehlers outlasted Kenyon’s Will VandenBerg at No. 5 singles to clinch the match for Emory. Ehlers took the first set 7-5 and built a 5-1 lead in the second set en route to a 6-3 decision.
Emory grabbed a 2-1 lead after doubles. Michael Goodwin and David Caplan teamed up to outlast Kenyon’s Michael Greenberg and Jeremy Polster 8-6 at No. 1 doubles, and Oliver Lopp and Michael Kaufman defeated Kenyon’s McNeil Parker and William VandenBerg 8-4. Kenyon scored at No. 2 doubles, with Daniel Becker and Charles Brody handling Mark Boren and Hardy Ehlers by a decisive 8-2 margin.
Left unfinished were No. 1 singles, where Emory’s Michael Goodwin and Kenyon’s Michael Greenberg split the first two sets; No. 3 singles, where David Caplan of Emory and Kenyon’s Charles Brody split the first two sets, and at No. 4 singles, where Kenyon’s Daniel Becker took the first set 6-2 against Emory’s Oliver Lopp but trailed 5-4 in the second set when the match was decided.
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| Andrew Thomson, left, and Filip Marinkovic outlasted Randy Loden and Kaz Murata of Mary Washington 9-7 at No. 1 doubles. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
Middlebury’s Chris Mason and Andrew Lee won 8-3 at No. 2 doubles in rapid fashion, but the Panthers had to sweat out victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. Filip Marinkovic and Andrew Thomson outlasted Randy Loden and Kaz Murata 9-7 at No. 1, and Rich Bonfiglio and Andy Peters defeated Evan Goff and Jon Pollak 8-6 at No. 3.
The Eagles of UMW won first sets at No. 1 singles (John James) and No. 4 singles (Eddie Carver), but couldn’t manage to win points at those spots before Middlebury clinched the match. Marinkovic struck first with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Loden at No. 2, and Peter Odell cemented the team win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Zach Detweiler at No. 6 singles.