Six teams enter the UAA Championship nationally ranked in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll with each of the top five seeds ranked among the top eight teams in NCAA Division III. The championship runs Wednesday through Saturday in Altamonte Springs, FL at Sanlando Park.
Top-seeded and top-ranked Emory University (16-3, No. 1 ranking) sets out to defend its UAA title. The Eagles have won 24 of the 28 Association championships, including a streak of 19 consecutive from 1990 to 2008. Emory has not lost to a Division III opponent this season, posting a 12-0 record against ranked teams, including five wins against top-10 opponents. The Eagles captured the title at the ITA Division III Indoor National Championships in February and in March, handed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps its first regular season loss since 2012.
Second-seeded University of Chicago (14-3, No. 5 ranking) finished third in the UAA championship a year ago and reached the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship Final Four for the first time in program history. The Maroons have earned 12 wins against ranked Division III opponents, including a 7-3 mark against top-20 teams. Chicago finished a program-best second at the ITA Division III Indoor National Championships.
Third-seeded Washington University (14-4, No. 7 ranking) has won two of the past three UAA titles and has reached the Association championship match for 10 consecutive years. The Bears, who finished third in the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship in 2015, have won eight matches against ranked Division III opponents this season with a 5-3 mark against top-20 competition.
Fourth-seeded Case Western Reserve University (18-6, No. 6 ranking) has posted a 7-3 record against ranked Division III opponents, including three victories against top-10 teams. The Spartans, who placed a program-best third at the ITA Division III Indoor National Championships, enter the tournament having won seven of their last eight contests.
Fifth-seeded Carnegie Mellon University (14-5, No. 8 ranking) has won seven of 10 matches against ranked Division III opponents and are riding an eight-match winning streak entering the championship. The Tartans have advanced to the championship half of the UAA tournament for 10 consecutive years.
Sixth-seeded Brandeis University (8-7, No. 23) faced six nationally ranked opponents this season with three of its losses by a 5-4 score to ranked teams. The Judges also posted a 5-4 win over 24th-ranked Bates College.
Seventh-seeded University of Rochester (9-7) enters the UAA championship on six-match winning streak in which the Yellowjackets have outscored opponents by a combined 49-5 score.
Eighth-seeded NYU (3-8) played six ranked opponents in its 11 contests with three of those contests finishing 5-4 or 6-3.
Team-By-Team Preview
#1 Emory: The Eagles are led by senior Rafe Mosetick, the second-ranked singles player in NCAA Division III and top-ranked Atlantic Region player. Mosetick began the season by advancing to the finals of the ITA Division III Small College National Championships and has posted a 20-6 singles record and a 13-3 doubles mark with freshman sensation Jonathan Jemison. The duo is ranked 14th in the region. Jemison is ranked third regionally in singles and leads the squad with 21 victories, including a 12-2 mark at No. 2 singles. Junior Aman Manji (11-2) and freshman Adrien Bouchet (11-3) have combined to win 22 of 27 matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. The No. 1 doubles combination of Scott Rubinstein and James Spaulding is ranked third in the region and the tandem of Andrew Harrington and David Omsky have posted a 10-3 record at No. 3 doubles.
#2 Chicago: Sophomore Nicolas Chua captured his second ITA regional singles title in the fall and is ranked fourth in the Central Region, one of six Maroons with at least 16 singles victories this season. Classmate David Liu has dropped only one singles match the entire year (23-1) and is 15-0 in dual matches, playing everywhere from No. 6 to No. 2 singles. His only singles loss was to freshman teammate Max Liu in September. Chua and David Liu have won 20 doubles matches are the second-ranked duo in the region. Freshman Charlie Pei (18-6) is ranked 13th in the region in singles and has teamed with sophomore Peter Leung for a 12-4 record at No. 2 doubles. Leung has furnished a 17-6 singles mark. Luke Tsai enters the championship having won eight consecutive matches and has won 18 of 20 singles matches this season, including a 10-1 record in dual matches.
#3 Washington: Junior John Carswell and sophomore Johnny Wu are ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, in singles in the Central Region. Carswell and senior Josh Cogan are ranked 11th in doubles in the region and are 7-4 this season. Wu shares the team lead with senior Tyler Kratky with 13 singles victories and is 10-5 at No. 2 singles. Kratky, who reached the career 100-win plateau earlier this season, has won eight of his last 10 matches and is 11-4 at No. 3 singles. Wu, Kratky, and a series of players at No. 4 singles have combined for a 40-11 record at singles spots 2 through 4. Sophomore Jason Haugen and freshman Konrad Kozlowski have teamed up for a 7-5 record in doubles, while junior Jeremy Bush has won 11 doubles matches with two partners, most recently winning five with Kratky.
#4 Case Western Reserve: Senior CJ Krimbill is ranked third in the Central Region in singles and first in doubles with classmate Louis Stuerke. Krimbill became only the second player in UAA history to reach 100 wins in both singles and doubles. He is 24-4 overall, 20-2 at No. 1 singles, and enters the championship on a nine-match winning streak. Krimbill and Stuerke have won eight matches in row and are 24-5 this season. Junior James Fojtasek is ranked 12th in the Central Region, posting a 13-5 record at No. 2 singles. Stuerke enters the championship with a 12-5 mark at No. 4 singles, while junior Kevin Dong is 12-6 at No. 5 singles. Fojtasek and classmate Phil Gruber have won 19 of 22 matches in doubles, while the freshman combination of John Benedetto and David Zakhodin have won seven of eight matches at No. 3 doubles.
#5 Carnegie Mellon: Senior Abhishek Alla earned his second ITA regional title in the fall and is ranked fourth in the Atlantic South Region, ranking second on the team with 15 wins. Freshman Daniel Levine leads the Tartans with 19 singles victories and is ranked seventh in the region. Levine and classmate Vayum Arora are the second-ranked doubles team in the region with an 11-5 mark at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Chaz Downing enters the championship on an eight-match winning streak that moved his season record to 13-2. Kenny Zheng (12-7), Arora (14-9), and junior Kunal Wadwani (14-5) all have double-digit wins. The tandem of Zheng and sophomore Jeffrey Chen sport a 12-5 record at No. 2 doubles, while the senior duo of Alla and Yuvraj Kumar have won 12 of 14 matches at No. 3 doubles.
#6 Brandeis: Juniors Ryan Bunis and Brian Granoff are ranked 18th and 21st, respectively, in the Northeast Region in singles. Granoff leads the Judges with 13 singles victories. Two more juniors, Michael Arguello and Jeff Cherkin are the 11th-ranked doubles duo in the region and are tied for the team lead in wins with the No. 2 doubles combination of freshman Jackson Kogan and senior Danny Lubarsky. Arguello has won eight of 10 matches at No. 3 singles and freshman Tyler Ng has posted a 7-3 mark at No. 4 singles.
#7 Rochester: Senior Ben Shapiro enters the championship on a six-match winning streak in both singles and doubles. He is 15-6 in singles this season with a 7-4 mark at No. 2 and has teamed with sophomore Andrew Nunno for an 11-4 mark in doubles, 6-3 at No. 2. Nunno has won four consecutive matches in singles and sports a 7-4 record at No. 6 singles. Freshman Masaru Fujimaki (12-10), senior Ian Baranowski (11-10), and sophomore Aaron Mevorach (13-6) have all reached double digits in wins, while junior Sam Leeman has won five consecutive matches.
#8 NYU: Junior Umberto Setter won four of five matches in the fall but a broken foot kept him out of action until recently, when he returned to win two of his first three matches back. Setter and freshman Shrikar Kundur have won two of three matches at No. 2 doubles. The recent teaming of junior Matt DeMichiel and freshman Benedict Teoh has won all three of their matches at No. 3 doubles. DeMichiel leads the team with 10 singles wins, including a team-best 7-4 record in dual matches. Freshman Yanik Parsch is 4-1 since moving to No. 6 singles.