ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The College of Chicago males’s tennis workforce confronted off with conference-rival Washington College – St. Louis for a 3rd time this season on Friday, this time within the semifinals of the 2022 College Athletic Affiliation (UAA) Championship. In an intense back-and-forth affair, the Maroons emerged with the victory as soon as once more by a 5-3 margin.
The Maroons (16-1 file) prolonged their profitable streak to 9 in-a-row and can play within the UAA title match for the third time in program historical past. The 2018 squad gained this system’s first league title. The Bears fell to 13-9 on the season.
UChicago had overwhelmed WashU on two earlier events this yr – 8-1 on the ITA Indoor Nationals in February and 5-2 in St. Louis final weekend.
On Friday afternoon, the Maroons took a crucial 2-1 lead after doubles play. The No. 3 duo of junior Sachin Das and senior Alex Guzhva dominated with an 8-0 win. Quickly after, junior Christian Alshon and sophomore Derek Hsieh got here away with an 8-3 victory at No. 1.
WashU utilized strain in singles motion, capturing the No. 5 and No. 6 slots to tie the rating up 3-3. Das earned a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 for the Maroons, and Alshon battled to a 7-6, 6-3 victory at No. 1 to place the workforce inside one match of sealing a spot in Saturday’s closing.
It got here right down to the No. 4 singles bout with Guzhva thrust into the limelight as soon as once more. The UChicago senior has come up by way of because the clincher on the large stage quite a few events over time, and he did it once more with a three-set triumph in opposition to WashU, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Guzhva broke his opponent’s serve at 5-5 after which served out the match, with the ultimate WashU shot crusing gone the baseline.
“It is actually, actually troublesome to beat a workforce thrice in-a-row and it is particularly troublesome to do it within the convention event,” Head Coach Jay Tee mentioned. “The fellows dug deep and pulled out a win that at instances seemed prefer it is perhaps a loss. The doubles lead was enormous, so for No. 1 and No. 3 to identify us an early two factors was key. Singles was an absolute battle within the Florida warmth as anticipated. Sachin recovered from an early 1-4 deficit within the first to provide us our third level and Christian gutted out a troublesome victory to place us inside one level. Alex did what he does and performed his finest beneath strain to clinch one more match for the workforce.”
The No. 2-seeded Maroons will subsequent tackle No. 1-seed Case Western Reserve College in Saturday morning’s UAA title match. The winner will get the convention’s computerized bid to the NCAA postseason.
UChicago 5, Washington-St. Louis 3
Singles
1. Christian Alshon (UC) def. Abhi Ramireddy (WU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
2. Derek Hsieh (UC) vs. Daniel Li (WU) 6-7 (3-7), 4-4, unfinished
3. Sachin Das (UC) def. Luke Smith (WU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Gaurav Singh (WU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
5. Jared Phillips (WU) def. Marek Michulka (UC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
6. James Shaheen (WU) def. Shramay Dhawan (UC) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Christian Alshon/Derek Hsieh (UC) def. Daniel Li/Abhi Ramireddy (WU) 8-3
2. Jeremy Ouyang/Scott Yamamoto (WU) def. Arjun Asokumar/Andrei Leonov (UC) 8-5
3. Sachin Das/Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Jared Phillips/Gaurav Singh (WU) 8-0
NEXT MATCH:
- Saturday, April 23 @ 8:30 AM (ET) – UChicago vs. Case Western Reserve College (at Altamonte Springs, Fla.)
