From Emory University Athletics

The Emory men's tennis team went into day three of the ITA South Regional in Sewanee, Tennessee with three Eagles in the semifinals of the singles tournament and one doubles team in the semifinals as well.

After a dominant performance this past weekend, Emory will return with some hardware as sophomore Dean Kamenev and senior Nolan Shah won the doubles championship on Sunday evening.

The duo entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and made quick work of their first three opponents. The two faced some adversity in their semifinal match, being pushed to three sets. Ultimately, the tandem pulled away in the final set to advance to the finals.

Matched up with the tournament's No. 1 seeded doubles team from Sewanee, Kamenev and Shah came out on top in three sets (6-1, 6-7, 6-3) to claim the ITA Fall South Regional doubles championship. With the win, the tandem qualified for the ITA Cup, which will take place in Rome, Georgia from October 12 through October 16.

The day started with singles play, with sophomore Eshaan Dani taking on the eventual champion, No. 1 seed Jordan Theron in the semifinal round. Dani battled with one of the nation's top players, but eventually fell in two sets, both ending in 6-1 scores.

The other semifinal match was an all-Emory match, with Kamenev and Shah facing off. Shah, the defending ITA South Regional Singles champion, took the first set with ease, winning 6-0. But Kamenev fought back, winning the next two sets 6-3 to advance to his first career ITA Regional Finals appearance.

Up against Theron, Kamenev battled hard, pushing the No. 1 seed to his closest match of the weekend in the championship match. He forced Theron to a tiebreaker in the first set, falling 7-6 and losing the second set 6-4. Kamenev was the only opponent to win more than four points in a set from Theron throughout the entire tournament.

Sophomore Alex Marino fell in two sets in the Purple Draw Championship match, losing both by a score of 7-5.