In a battle of the top-two ranked men's tennis programs in the nation, No. 1 Middlebury ended the No. 2 Emory's season on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals of the NCAA D-III Championships. The Panthers registered a 5-3 decision over the Eagles, raising their record to 24-4 while Emory closed out the year with a ledger of 19-5. The Championships are being held in Claremont, California.
Emory got off to a good start, winning two of the three doubles matches. Juniors Jonathan Jemison and Adrien Bouchet recorded the first point with a dominating 8-2 triumph over William de Quant and Noah Farrell at the No. 2 spot, the duo's fourth win in as many outings this spring. After the Panthers knotted the score following a win at first doubles, senior Andrew Harrington and freshman Hayden Cassone rose to the occasion with a dramatic 9-7 victory at No. 3 over Peter Martin and Timo van der Geest, breaking the Middlebury tandem at 7-7 before holding serve to close out the match. After joining forces against the University of Chicago at the University Athletic Association Championships, Harrington and Cassone posted a 5-0 won-lost mark.
Senior Scott Rubinstein provided Emory with a 3-1 lead after besting Andre Xiao, 6-2, 6-4, at six singles, his 14th victory of the year in 22 decisions. Rubinstein was the lone Eagle to win the first set of his match, placing Emory in catch-up mode over the next remainder of the singles encounters. Middlebury drew to within one point after Kyle Schlanger came away with a three-set triumph over Bouchet at No. 4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, and then proceeded to tie the contest shortly after following Farrell's 7-6, 6-1 outcome over Cassone at No. 2. The Panthers positioned themselves one point away from advancing when Nate Eazor held off Harington at No. 5, 6-3, 7-6, with the setback just Harrington's fourth against 19 wins on the season. Lubomir Cuba then sealed the outcome in Middlebury's favor when he topped Jemison at first singles, 7-6, 6-3. Middlebury will meet Bowdoin in Wednesday's title match.
While the team portion of the Championships has concluded for Emory, the Eagles will have Jemison and Hayden Cassone competing in the Singles Championships while Rubinstein and junior James Spaulding take part in the doubles competition, with action in those events beginning on Thursday.