From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics

The seventh-ranked Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis team began the 2017 ITA National Men's Indoor Team Championship with a 5-4 victory against eighth-ranked Case Western Reserve University on Friday, February 24 at the Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland, Ohio. The Tartans turned in four singles wins to earn their sixth win of the season and advance to the semifinals of the tournament for the second consecutive year.

The Spartans held a 2-1 lead after doubles play with the number two pair of senior Kenny Zheng (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) and junior Jeffrey Chen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) winning, 8-2, for the Tartans.

Freshman Mark Prettyman (Fairfax, Va./Thomas Jefferson) was the first to finish singles play, as he topped Rob Stroup at number four singles, 6-2, 6-4, to even the match at 2-all.

The next point came from the Tartans' number one singles player, sophomore Daniel Levine (Highland Park, Ill./Boca Prep International School). Levine put the Tartans ahead 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win against James Fojtasek while Zheng forced a third set at number two singles.

The Spartans picked up their third point when Sam Concannon topped sophomore Vayum Arora (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose), 6-3, 6-4, at fifth singles.

Sophomore Chaz Downing (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) put the Tartans back up and one win away from match point with a 6-4, 6-4 win at third singles against Josh Dughi.

After Zheng forced a third set in his singles match, he earned match point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision.