From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

Case Western Reserve University's soon-to-be All-American doubles tandem of senior Eric Klawitter (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) and sophomore Christopher Krimbill (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) continued its run at the NCAA Championship with a two-set victory against the top pair from Middlebury College (Vt.) on Friday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

Seeded fourth in the bracket, Klawitter and Krimbill advance to the NCAA Championship Semifinals to play second-seeded Ross Putterman and Jeremy Bush of University Athletic Association rival Washington University in St. Louis. The teams faced each other twice this season – the first meeting was washed out due to rain, and the second fell in favor of the team from Washington U. during the UAA Championship in late April.

Klawitter and Krimbill have already advanced further in the NCAA Championship Tournament than any other individual singles or doubles qualifiers in school history. Against Middlebury's Alex Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz, the Spartans' top team was victorious by scores of 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). After grabbing the first set, Klawitter and Krimbill had to stage off game point before forcing the tie-breaker set.

Today's victory also avenged a tough, 9-8 loss to Johnston and Lebovitz during this past Monday's NCAA Championship Team Quarterfinals.

Earlier today in the singles quarterfinals, Krimbill fell in straight-sets (6-3, 6-2) to top-seeded Warren Wood, a junior from NCAA Championship team runner-up Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. Krimbill, who will be a two-time ITA All-American in singles play, ends the season with a school single-season record 26 singles wins (26-8 overall). He is 51-18 in his two years.

Klawitter and Krimbill are now 19-4 as a pair this season. Klawitter ranks third all-time in program history with 135 combined victories. Recent graduate John Healey (Columbia, Md./Atholton) ranks second with 136, while 2013 graduate Kyle Gerber holds the top mark with 139.