Emory, WashU to play for NCAA title at Bates
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| Washington University’s Chris Hoeland registered wins in singles and doubles in the Bears’ semifinal win. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
Emory (19-6) defeated Middlebury (18-6) 5-1 in the day’s first semifinal, followed by a 5-1 win by Washington-St. Louis (20-4) over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (26-8).
The championship match will start at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Bates College; Middlebury and Claremont-M-S will meet in the third place match at 9 a.m.
Emory won the first semifinal of the day 5-1 to advance to the team championship match for the third straight year. The Eagles took a 3-0 lead after doubles, with close scores at each spot, none more so than at No. 2, where Mark Boren and Hardy Ehlers defeated Middlebury’s Chris Mason and Andrew Lee in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-5).
Ehlers was the first to win in singles, taking a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Rich Bonfiglio at No. 5 singles for a 4-0 lead.
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| Michael Goodwin of Emory clinched the match for the Eagles at No. 1 singles. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
The Bears of Washington-St. Louis similarly seized a 3-0 lead after doubles, putting the Stags of Claremont-M-S in dire straits for singles. Max Woods and Isaac Stein notched a quick 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles to get the Bears going, followed by an 8-5 win for Washington’s John Watts and Nirmal Choradia at No. 2 doubles, and finally an 8-6 decision for Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland over Claremont’s Guillaume Schils and Lawrence Wang.
Stein put Washington ahead 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ben Hough at No. 6 singles, but each remaining singles match was a close one. The Stags’ Mike Starr topped Washington’s Danny Levy at No. 3, 7-5, 6-3 to close the gap to 4-1. The Bears clinched the match at No. 5 singles, with Hoeland pulling out a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Russell Brockett, while three other matches went unfinished with close scores.
Washington-St. Louis advances to the team championship match for the first time in the tournament’s 33-year history.