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Tartans Advance to UAA Semifinals for 11th Consecutive Season

Tartans Advance to UAA Semifinals for 11th Consecutive Season

From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics

The Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis team won it's 11th straight University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship quarterfinal match when it defeated fourth-seeded Case Western Reserve University, 6-3, on Thursday, April 21. The Tartans, seeded fifth for the tournament and eighth in the nation, are now 15-5 on the season while the sixth-ranked Spartans move to 18-7.

The Tartans trailed by one after doubles play, earning their point from the number three pair of seniors Yuvraj Kumar (New Delhi, India/Millfield School) and Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) when they won 8-4 against John Benedetto and David Zakhodin.

Once singles got underway, junior Kenny Zheng (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at fourth singles against Louis Stuerke. Freshman Daniel Levine (Highland Park, Ill./Boca Prep International School) gave the Tartans a 3-2 advantage with a 6-4, 6-2 win at second singles against James Fojtasek before CJ Krimbill topped Alla, 6-3, 6-3, at first singles to tie the match once again.

Kumar won his sixth singles match, 6-4, 6-2, to put the Tartans within a match of the team victory. Freshman Vayum Arora (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose) controlled the third set of his fifth singles match to win the decisive point, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, to advance the Tartans to the semifinals. Freshman Chaz Downing (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) finished the scoring with a 6-4, 6-4 win at third singles.