From University of Chicago Athletics

The University of Chicago men's tennis team opened the 2018 NCAA Division III Team Championships in dominant form, downing Augustana College 5-1 in Saturday's Regional Semifinal at XS Tennis Village.

The Maroons (17-4) won their NCAA opening match for the fourth-straight year, using stellar singles play to put away the rookie Vikings (19-10), who earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Up 2-1 after doubles play, UChicago's No. 2 tandem of Jeremy Yuan and Tyler Raclin (8-4) and the No. 3 duo of Nicolas Chua and David Liu (8-5) each won their respective matches to help the Maroons take an early lead.

That's when the Maroons' prowess in singles took over. Charlie Pei won his No. 6 singles match in quick fashion with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Augustana's Jack Morkin, and UChicago teammate David Liu was next, downing Rodrigo Medeiros in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3.

For Liu, who has been sidelined with injury, it was his first singles match of the season and first victory since February 2017.

Playing to decision, it was up to senior Luke Tsai to capture the deciding point, as he defeated Augie's Peter Alex at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-3.

UChicago's other three singles players – Erik Kerrigan (No. 1), Nicolas Chua (No. 2) and Jeremy Yuan (No. 4) all captured their respective first sets before Tsai's clinching point.

UChicago advances to Sunday's regional final, where it the seventh-ranked Maroons will take on Carnegie Mellon University.