The No. 2 ranked Emory men's tennis team (10-3) took on the NAIA's No. 1 ranked team on Saturday morning, welcoming the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies to the Woodruff P.E. Center. After falling to the Grizzlies earlier this month, the Eagles were looking to get even on their home court. However, after taking two of the three doubles matches, the Eagles went on to lose the match, 6-3, as the Grizzlies took five of the six singles bouts.
The Grizzlies got on the board first, winning the doubles match on court one. Seniors Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen battled, taking the first few points of the match from their opponents. But the Grizzlies pulled away from the Eagles' duo as Glanville and Cohen fell, 4-8.
The Eagles rallied on the other two doubles courts, though. Graduate student Justin Waldman and freshman Christian Liew took the No. 3 doubles position together for the second time this season. The duo won their bout on court three, 8-6, to improve their doubles record to 2-0 as a unit. Senior Nolan Shah and sophomore Dean Kamenev played on court two, pulling out a win in a marathon of a doubles match. Tied at 7 points apiece, the tandem won the tiebreaker, 8-4, to win the match, 8-7, to secure Emory's second point of the day.
The Eagles entered the singles portion of the afternoon with a 2-1 lead. However, the Grizzlies took five of the six singles matches to thwart any chance of an Eagle win.
The match on court one was the first to wrap up, with Kamenev falling in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-1. With the loss, Kamenev falls to 6-5 on the season. Liew took court five, also falling in straight sets, both ending by a score of 6-1. Liew is now 9-3 in singles play this season. With the pair of wins to open the singles matches, the Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead.
The lone singles win for the Eagles came on court three, where Glanville dominated his opponent to win in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1, and tie the match back up at three. The senior is now 6-3 on the spring and has won three straight in the No. 3 position.
Waldman fell in straight sets in his match on court four, 6-4 and 6-0, bringing his record this spring to 2-1. Shah fought in his match, forcing a tiebreaker in the first set. Yet, the senior would fall in the tiebreaker, 7-2, before dropping the last set, 6-4. Shah is now 7-4 this spring.
Cohen played in a marathon on court six. He narrowly dropped the opening set, 7-6, before winning the second, 6-2, to force a final set. Despite battling, the senior dropped the final set, 10-3.
With the loss, the Eagles fall to 10-3 on the spring. Emory will be back at the Woodruff P.E. Center early next week for a match against Covenant. The tilt with the Scots is slated to get started at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, April 2nd.