From University of Chicago Athletics
The University of Chicago men's tennis team utilized its whole roster on Saturday with split-squad victories over Hope College and Lewis University.
The No. 5-ranked Maroons kept their perfect season rolling at 5-0. The Flying Dutchmen and the Flyers both dropped to 0-1 in their season debuts.
The first match featured the Maroons versus Hope indoors at XS Tennis. UChicago blasted through the opposition and swept all nine matches. Two of the doubles bouts saw the Maroons surrender only one or zero games. In singles, all six matches finished in straight sets, and six of the 12 sets were 6-0 shutouts. Junior Luke Tsai and freshman Jaird Meyer both captured 6-0, 6-0 victories at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Senior Sven Kranz and sophomore Jonathan Li posted matching 6-1, 6-0 wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively. The No. 1 doubles tandem of junior David Liu and freshman Erik Kerrigan blanked their opposition 8-0.
The other half of the team headed to Evergreen Racquet Club to face off with NCAA Division II opponent Lewis. The Flyers garnered wins at the No. 1 spots in singles and doubles, but the Maroons handily took the other matches for a 7-2 win. Sophomore Max Liu limited his singles opponent to one game with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles. Junior Nicolas Chua and freshman Ninan Kumar were similarly dominant with an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles.
"First of all, it was really great to get all 17 guys on the roster a meaningful match," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "There's no question that this added experience will pay off as the season progresses. I was also really impressed by our focus and attention to detail. In some spots, it would have been easy to put it on cruise control. But the guys did a great job of competing hard and working winning patterns rather than just 'out talenting' their opponents. We looked 10 times better than just a week ago, which is a great sign of things to come."
UChicago 9, Hope 0
Singles
1. David Liu (UC) def. Michael Kiley (HOPE) 6-1, 6-1
2. Luke Tsai (UC) def. Mark VanderStoep (HOPE) 6-0, 6-0
3. Erik Kerrigan (UC) def. Danny Kroeze (HOPE) 6-1, 6-4
4. Sven Kranz (UC) def. Christian Rhoades (HOPE) 6-1, 6-0
5. Jaird Meyer (UC) def. Andrew Klein (HOPE) 6-0, 6-0
6. Jonathan Li (UC) def. Sam Kreps (HOPE) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. David Liu/Erik Kerrigan (UC) def. Mark VanderStoep/Christian Rhoades (HOPE) 8-0
2. Luke Tsai/Bobby Bethke (UC) def. Andrew Klein/Danny Kroeze (HOPE) 8-1
3. Jaird Meyer/Sven Kranz def. Sam Kreps/Justin Folkert (HOPE) 8-3
UChicago 7, Lewis 2
Singles
1. Alan Braschinsky (LEWIS) def. Nicolas Chua (UC) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
2. Charlie Pei (UC) def. Mate Srdanovic (LEWIS) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
3. Peter Leung (UC) def. Andre Norasith (LEWIS) 6-3, 7-5
4. Ninan Kumar (UC) def. Brendan Peterson (LEWIS) 6-1, 6-4
5. Max Liu (UC) def. Chandler Stimpert (LEWIS) 6-1, 6-0
6. Max Hawkins (UC) def. Anton Levitin (LEWIS) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Alan Braschinsky/Mate Srdanovic (LEWIS) def. Max Hawkins/Tyler Raclin (UC) 8-6
2. Charlie Pei/Peter Leung (UC) def. Andre Norasith/Brendan Peterson (LEWIS) 8-2
3. Nicolas Chua/Ninan Kumar (UC) def. Benjamin Kasbeer/Anton Levitin (LEWIS) 8-1