From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The No. 14 Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team upset University Athletic Association competitor No. 3 Washington University (Mo.), the No. 1 seed in the tournament, 6-3 in the first round of the 2016 Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
The Spartans are now 2-0 overall, while the Bears drop to 2-1 on the season.
The Spartans took a quick 2-0 lead after doubles. First to finish at No. 1 doubles, seniors CJ Krimbill and Louis Stuerke defeated their opponents Josh Cogan and Tyler Kratky 8-4. The No. 3 doubles team of juniors Phil Gruber and James Fojtasek followed up with a victory over Shaun Berman and Radha Vishbubhotla 8-3 after winning three straight sets to close the game.
The No. 2 doubles team of juniors Adam Collins and Freddy Daum fought until the end, but late rallies by the duo wasn't enough as Jeremy Bush and Konrad Kozlowski finished ahead 9-7 to pull WashU back into the match heading into singles play with CWRU with a 2-1 lead.
The Bears tied up the match winning No. 4 singles with John Carswell over Louis Stuerke, but didn't keep the lead for long as Krimbill put the Spartans back on top, 3-2, with a win a No. 1 singles over WashU's Jeremy Bush (6-3, 6-2). The Spartans pulled to a 4-2 lead after a 6-4, 6-3 win by junior Kevin Dong at No. 5 singles. At No. 6 singles, junior Joshua Dughi quickly defeated Berman 6-2, 6-2 to secure the victory for the Spartans with a 5-2 lead. Also with a victory for the Spartans, freshman Robert Stroup pushed the Spartans up 6-3 after topping Kratky 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
Case Western Reserve will now move to the semifinals on Saturday, February 20. The team will play No. 6 University of Chicago at 1:00 p.m. in the Cleveland Racquet Club.
On Friday morning, Chicago rallied for a 6-3 victory over No. 8 Trinity University (Texas) to keep their undefeated streak intact (6-0). The Maroons are 4-0 overall against nationally ranked teams and the win over Trinity marked UChicago's first-ever team victory at ITA Indoor Nationals.
The Maroons pulled into a 2-1 lead after doubles as the No. 1 pairing (Nicolas Chua/David Liu) and No. 2 pairing (Charlie Pei/Peter Leung) won their matches 8-3 and 8-2. Leung, Pei and Liu would all win singles matches for the Maroons to keep the momentum and clinch the win.