The Emory University men's tennis team's NCAA tournament run came to an end Saturday afternoon, falling to Tufts University in the national quarterfinals held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
The Eagles fell behind at the start as the Jumbos sweep all three doubles courts in narrow fashion, with two matches needing a tiebreaker to decide a winner. On court one graduate student Charlie James and junior Ryan Glanville fell by an 8-7 margin as did the junior tandem of Nolan Shah and Samuel Dean on court three. At the second position, senior Andrew Esses and freshman John Lasanajak fell from an 8-6 result.
Despite the early hole, the Eagles tried to battle back in singles with James earning a 6-3, 6-3 win on court four and freshman Dean Kamenev pulling out a three-set win on court two 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to help Emory claw its way back into the match.
However, clinching points from Tufts on court one over Esses (6-3, 6-1) and on court six over senior William Coupe (7-5, 6-4) ultimately decided the match.
At the match's conclusion, Shah held a one set lead on court three (6-4, 6-6) while sophomore Emilio Van Cotthem was in the midst of a three-setter on court five as he was even 4-6, 6-3, 2-2.
The defeat sees the Eagles conclude the 2022-23 slate with an 18-6 record while the Jumbos (23-1) will advance to Monday's national semifinals to face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
With the team season now complete, several Eagles will turn their attention to the NCAA Individual Championships that will get underway on Thursday. Esses and Shah will compete in the singles draw with James/Glanville taking part in the doubles competition.