The Emory University men's tennis team erased an early deficit to defeat the University of Mary Washington in the second round of the NCAA Championships Saturday afternoon in Fredericksburg, VA.

With the win, the Eagles advance to the third round and will oppose the winner of Trinity (TX) or St. Mary's (MD) in the regional final Sunday afternoon with a spot to the NCAA Quarterfinals on the line. Sunday's match is set to get underway at 12:00 PM.

Senior Andrew Esses and sophomore Nolan Shah provided Emory with the early lead with their 8-1 triumphant on court one before UMW claimed the next two doubles points by 8-1 and 8-7 decisions to go into singles with the 2-1 advantage.

Mary Washington looked to build on its lead until the turning point of match came at third singles when Shah rallied from a 5-0 first set deficit, winning 13 straight to pick up the match win 7-5, 6-0.

UMW regained the lead with a straight set win over sophomore Brandon Cohen before graduate student Santiago Suarez answered with a straight set win of his own at the fifth spot: 6-2, 6-2.

With the match score tied at 3-3, Esses put Emory on the brink of the win with a straight win with his 7-6, 6-4 victory on court two with two courts remaining.

After dropping the opening set, senior Antonio Mora pulled through with the clinching point on court one, taking care of business 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Sophomore Ryan Glanville was in the midst of a third set tiebreak when the match reach its conclusion 4-6, 7-5, 6-6.