From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics

Three Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis athletes opened competition at the 2016 NCAA Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships hosted by Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Thursday, May 26.

Senior Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) topped senior Ari Smolyar of Middlebury College, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in the opening round while freshman Daniel Levine (Highland Park, Ill./Boca Prep International School) won, 6-4, 6-1, against junior Graham Maassen of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in his NCAA Singles debut. Each win earned the players All-America recognition for the season.

Alla later faced senior Paxton Deuel of Trinity (Texas) University in the round of 16, defeating him 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals for the second straight year. Alla will face fellow senior Sam Geier of Kenyon College on Friday.

Levine played to three sets against Kalamazoo junior Branden Metzler who was fueled by the hometown crowd to come-from-behind for the 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win in the round of 16.

In doubles play, Levine and freshman teammate Vayum Arora (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose) faced Skyler Butts and Daniel Morkovine of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges who are seeded third in the field. The pair from CMS topped the Tartan pair, 6-0, 6-1, to end the season for the freshmen who compiled a doubles record of 14-8.