Team Semifinals Recap
Team Semifinals
May 14, 2008
Match Statistics:
Emory 5, Middlebury 1
Washington-St. Louis 5, Claremont-M-S 1
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| Washington University’s Chris Hoeland registered wins in singles and doubles in the Bears’ semifinal win. (Photo by Suzy Preston) |
LEWISTON, Maine — Emory University and Washington University of St. Louis will meet in the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Team Championship match on Thursday, following their semifinal wins Wednesday at Bates College’s Wallach Tennis Center.
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) |
Middlebury was solidly in each remaining match, and the Panthers managed to cash in for a point when Andrew Thomson topped Emory’s David Caplan at No. 3, 6-4, 6-0. But Emory clinched the match at No. 1 when Michael Goodwin finished off Middlebury’s Andrew Lee in a 6-2, 6-4 decision.
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.