The No. 4 ranked Emory men's tennis team started its postseason this morning, heading to Altamonte Springs, Florida to play in the UAA Championships. The Eagles drew the tournament's No. 3 overall seed and took on the sixth-seeded NYU Violets in the opening round. With a trip to the semifinals on the line, the Eagles topped the Violets, 5-1.
The doubles tandem of freshman Christian Liew and senior Samuel Dean secured the match's opening point, winning their match on court three by a score of 8-5. The two have now won four straight doubles matches. Senior Nolan Shah and sophomore Dean Kamenev took their doubles match on court two, winning by an 8-3 margin to extend the Emory lead to 2-0.
Seniors Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen took part in a back-and-forth match on court one, trading points until both teams were knotted up at 7 points apiece. Yet, the Eagles were on the wrong side of the final score, as the Violets took the tiebreaker to win the match, 8-7 (9-7).
Emory entered the singles portion of the day with a 2-1 lead, needing three wins to secure a win and advance to the semifinals.
Liew was once again dominant on court four for the Eagles. He made quick work of his opponent, winning in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-0. He has now won five straight singles matches and is 14-4 in dual matches in his rookie year.
Junior Emilio Van Cotthem wasted no time, either, topping his opponent in straight sets as well. Playing on court five, Van Cotthem won his match, 6-2 and 6-1, to put the Eagles on the verge of victory.
With a semifinals berth up for grabs, Cohen seized the opportunity to win his match in straight sets and secure the Eagles' fifth and match clinching point on court six. He won both sets by a 6-1 margin.
The remaining singles matches were abandoned after the Eagles had secured the win.
Emory will now move on to face the No. 2 seeded Case Western Reserve Spartans in the semifinal round of the UAA Championships. The Spartans took down Rochester, 5-0, to advance in the tournament. The match against Case Western Reserve will get started tomorrow at 12:30 PM in Altamonte Springs, Florida.