From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Saturday morning's University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship match promised to have plenty of drama attached. The bout would feature the top two men's tennis teams in the nation in a rematch from February's ITA Indoor Nationals.
Top-ranked Case Western Reserve University (21-4 record) had not lost to a NCAA Division III opponent since the NCAA national title match in 2021. On the other side of the net, No. 2-ranked University of Chicago (17-1) had only one loss on its ledger this season, which came at the hands of CWRU.
Once the heavyweight matchup got underway, the Maroons submitted a huge effort in doubles to take a commanding lead. Two more wins in singles clinched a momentous 5-0 victory for UChicago.
The Maroons secured their second UAA title in program history, joining the 2018 squad in claiming the conference hardware.
Things started very promisingly for UChicago at the onset of doubles. The No. 3 tandem of junior Sachin Das and senior Alex Guzhva picked up the first team point with an 8-4 win. Then the No. 1 pairing of junior Christian Alshon and sophomore Derek Hsieh doubled the margin with an 8-5 victory. The match at No. 2 looked sure to go to CWRU, who held a 7-4 lead. However, sophomore Arjun Asokumar and first-year Andrei Leonov cobbled together a scintillating comeback bid that ended in their favor 8-7 (7-5 in the tiebreaker).
With a 3-0 lead in hand, UChicago only needed two wins out of six singles positions. The first came quickly, as Guzhva blazed his way to a 6-0, 6-1 rout at No. 4. The ball was then on Leonov's racket as he served for the match at No. 6. The Maroon rookie delivered the win 7-5, 6-3 to end things. The other matches went unfinished.
The UAA title gives UChicago the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship field. Postseason play begins on May 12.
"We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough physical and mental battle, and it was," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "The key today was being really disciplined and playing to win rather than not to lose. Coming back at No. 2 from 4-7 down to sweep the doubles gave us a huge lift, knowing how tough we are to beat in singles. Alex made sure there were no dramatics on his court today and staked us to a 4-0 lead. With other matches still really tight, Andrei stepped up, battled through some cramping, and served out his match to give us the fifth point and the championship. It was a total team effort with everyone contributing, which is the only way to beat a team as good as Case."
UChicago 5, Case Western Reserve 0
Singles
1. Christian Alshon (UC) vs. James Hopper (CWR) 4-6, 6-4, unfinished
2. Derek Hsieh (UC) vs. Vishwa Aduru (CWR) 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
3. Sachin Das (UC) vs. Ansh Shah (CWR) 6-4, 2-6, unfinished
4. Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Michael Sutanto (CWR-M) 6-0, 6-1
5. Chaitanya Aduru (CWR) vs. Shramay Dhawan (UC) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
6. Andrei Leonov (UC) def. Jonathan Powell (CWR) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
1. Christian Alshon/Derek Hsieh (UC) def. James Hopper/Jonathan Powell (CWR) 8-5
2. Arjun Asokumar/Andrei Leonov (UC) def. Sahil Dayal/Vishwa Aduru (CWR) 8-7 (7-5)
3. Sachin Das/Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Michael Sutanto/Chaitanya Aduru (CWR) 8-4