From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

In its opening match of the University Athletic Association Championship Tournament, the No. 10 nationally ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team breezed past No. 17 University of Chicago by a 7-2 tally on Thursday morning at Sanlando Park. The fourth-seeded Spartans advance to play top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Washington University-St. Louis on Friday at 2:00 p.m.

The Spartans improve to 15-5 overall, while the Maroons drop to 9-9. CWRU has finished in third place at the UAA Championship in each of the last two seasons. The Spartans have defeated Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) in the third-place match of each season.

Versus Chicago, CWRU took a 2-1 lead after doubles with wins from the partnerships of sophomore Christopher Krimbill (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) & senior Eric Klawitter (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) and freshman James Fojtasek (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods) & sophomore Louis Stuerke (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest). Krimbill and Klawitter won 8-5 at No. 1 over Chicago's Deepak Sabada and Sven Kranz, while Fojtasek and Stuerke earned a 8-4 victory at No. 3.

The Spartans then won five of the six singles matches, with wins coming from Krimbill, Klawitter, Fojtasek, junior Will Drougas (Roanoke, Va./Salem) and senior Derek Reinbold (Carmel, Ind./Park Tudor).

Krimbill won in three-sets against Sabada by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to earn the Spartans' seventh point. Fojtasek earned the fifth and deciding point for CWRU at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-2 decision. Drougas, Klawitter and Reinbold each won their respective matches in two sets.