The No. 6 ranked Emory men's tennis team continued play in the ITA Indoor Team National Championships on Saturday afternoon, taking on the No. 2 seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags in the semifinal round of the bracket.
The two teams have a bit of recent history, having met in the National Championship in both 2017 and 2019. Both meetings culminated in the Eagles hoisting National Championship trophies and Emory looked to continue the trend against the Stags on Saturday. Emory did just that, sweeping all seven points of the match to punch its ticket to the final round.
Emory and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps began the afternoon with doubles play, with one point up for grabs. Freshman Christian Liew and senior Samuel Dean's dominant run together in the No. 3 doubles spot came to an end, falling 6-4. The Stags' duo of Josh Kim and Tarm Rojanasoonthon controlled the lead for the duration of the match, forcing Emory to win both other doubles matches to save the opening point.
Seniors Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen took the court in the No. 1 doubles position in what became a must win match after Liew and Dean dropped their match. The two jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead before the Stags' Ian Freer and Matthew Robinson won three straight points to tie it up at 4. Yet, Glanville and Cohen locked in to win the following two points to secure a 6-4 win.
The No. 2 doubles spot featuring sophomore Dean Kamenev and senior Nolan Shah was the final match to finish, with the winner taking the lone doubles point for their respective team. The two traded the opening 10 points, finding themselves level at 5 points apiece. But Kamenev and Shah took control at the end, winning the final two points to earn a 7-5 victory and secure the match's doubles point.
Heading into the singles portion of the afternoon with a 1-0 lead, the Eagles needed three singles wins to clinch a victory and advance to the championship round. Liew wasted no time getting Emory on the board, winning in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-2 and extending the lead to 2-0.
Searching for two more wins to clinch the win, junior Emilio Van Cotthem also got it done for the Eagles. The junior showed his grit in his match against Rojanasoonthon. After falling behind 5-0, Van Cotthem won seven straight points to take the opening set 7-5. He didn't stop there. Van Cotthem swept the second set, 6-0, ending his match having won the final 13 points. Nearly 30 minutes after Liew had concluded his match, Van Cotthem secured the Eagles' second singles win and third point of the afternoon.
Graduate student and Air Force Transfer Justin Waldman made his first appearance for the Eagles in his career and did so in a big way. Taking the No. 4 singles position, Waldman won his match in straight sets to secure the fourth and match-clinching point for the Eagles. He took the first set narrowly by a score of 7-6 before putting his foot on the gas and dominating the second set, 6-2.
After the Eagles had already secured the win, Kamenev won his match in the No. 1 position in three sets. The sophomore dropped his opening set 6-3 but bounced back to win the following two sets 6-4 and 6-1. Glanville also won his match in three sets after dropping the opening set 7-5. The senior won the following two sets 7-6 and 6-4 to also secure a win in the No. 3 doubles position. Shah was the final Eagle to wrap up play, winning both sets by scores of 7-6 to finish off the sweep of the Stags.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the final round of the ITA Team Indoor Championships. Emory will be matched up with a familiar foe in the championship, with fellow UAA member No. 4 seeded WashU advancing to the finals after toppling the No. 1 seeded Case Western Reserve Spartans in the semifinals. The championships match against the Bears will take place Sunday morning, starting at 10:30 AM in Nicholasville, Kentucky.