From University of Chicago Athletics

The University of Chicago tennis teams kicked off day one of the NCAA Division III Singles and Doubles Championships with three victories on Thursday.

Three Maroons were participating in the competition – freshman Ariana Iranpour, senior Megan Tang and freshman Nicolas Chua.

Iranpour (27-8 record) started the day in singles action. The freshman came in as the No. 8 seed in the draw of 32 players. In the opening round, Iranpour blasted past Lindsey Liles (Sewanee) by scores of 6-2, 6-1. The round of 16 brought another win for Iranpour as she downed Ella Riddle (Linfield College) 6-4, 6-0. She will next face No. 1-seed Eudice Chong (Wesleyan University) on Friday.

Tang made her third career appearance in the singles draw at nationals. She dispatched her first opponent – Casey Johnson (University of Texas-Dallas) – in straight sets (6-2, 6-4). In the round of 16, Tang took the first set 6-1 against No. 2-seed Ria Gerger (Middlebury College). But Gerger came back to win the next two sets and the match, 6-3, 6-1. Tang ended her season with a 21-12 singles record.

Tang and Iranpour later teamed up in doubles as one of the top 16 pairings that earned an invitation to the NCAAs. Their opening opponents were Tiffany Cheng and Joulia Likhanskia from Bowdoin College. The Polar Bears controlled the match and defeated the Maroons 6-3, 6-1. Iranpour and Tang finished the year with a doubles record of 23-13.

On the men's side, Chua entered singles as the No. 5 seed and was matched up with Skyler Butts (Clarmont-Mudd-Scripps). Butts jumped ahead to win the first set 6-1 and then closed strong in the second set to take the match 6-4. Chua concluded his debut season with a singles mark of 30-9.