The No. 6 ranked Emory men's tennis team traveled to Nicholasville, Kentucky to begin competition in the ITA Division III Men's Team Indoor Championship on Friday afternoon. The event features the NCAA Division III's top-eight teams, competing in bracket format.
The Eagles entered the tournament as the No. 3 overall seed, matched up with the No. 6 seed Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties in the first round. The Eagles left no doubt on day one against the Gusties, with a convincing 6-1 win to advance to the semifinals.
Emory opened doubles play strong, with freshman Christian Liew and senior Samuel Dean earning the win on court three. The two traded the opening four points, with the match tied at two. Yet, Liew and Dean ripped off three straight point wins to pull away before winning 6-3.
The Eagles sent out the senior tandem of Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen on court one, but the two fell short, losing to the Gusties' top doubles team, 4-6.
Having split the other two doubles matches, sophomore Dean Kamenev and senior Nolan Shah's match became a must-win with the doubles point on the line. Kamenev and Shah jumped out to a commanding 4-1 lead, before the Gusties rallied to win two of the next three points to bring the score to 5-3. Yet, the two delivered on the ensuing point to win the match 6-3.
The Eagles entered the singles portion of the match with a 1-0 lead, needing three singles match wins to clinch the win.
Glanville made quick work in his match on court three, winning his match in straight sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-4 in. Just moments later, junior Emilio Van Cotthem finished off his match in the No. 5 doubles match having won both sets by a score of 6-2. The two quick wins in the singles portion of the event saw the Eagles build a dominant 3-0 lead.
Fresh off his UAA Men's Tennis Player of the Week award, Liew served as the closer for Emory on Friday afternoon. Liew won his first set 6-4 before sweeping the second set 6-0 to secure the match clinching fourth point in the No. 4 singles match to punch the Eagles' ticket to the semifinals.
After Liew had secured the win for the Eagles, Shah won the No. 2 singles match in straight sets, with 6-2 and 6-3 set wins. In the No. 1 singles match, Kamenev dropped his opening set 6-4 before storming back to win the second set 6-3 and force a tiebreaker. The sophomore went on to win the final set 10-7 to secure the Eagles' sixth and final point of the afternoon.
Freshman Ryan Nash wrapped up singles play for the Eagles on court six, falling in two sets (6-4, 6-2).
With the win, the Eagles will take on the No. 2 seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the semifinals. The match will start at 2:00 PM in Nicholasville, Kentucky.