Chattanooga, Tenn., May 25 2021 — The Washington University in St. Louis men's tennis team ended its season with a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Case Western Reserve Tuesday in the semifinal of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for four and-a-half hours before Case (14-2) closed out the final two singles matches in three sets to advance to its first-ever NCAA Championship match. WashU's win streak ended at 14 matches as the Bears close the season with a 14-2 record. The semifinals finish was WashU's best since 2015.
The match was a back-and-forth dogfight from the outset.
The two teams split the first two doubles matches as WashU senior Ethan Hillis and first year Gaurav Singh defeated Anthony Kanam and Vishwa Aduru 8-3 at No. 3 before Case's Matthew Chen and James Hopper topped graduate student Scott Altmeyer and sophomore Abhi Ramireddy 8-3 at No. 1.
Bears seniors Daniel Li and Benjamin van der Sman held a 6-3 advantage at No. 2 doubles before the Case duo of Neil Mabee and Jonathan Powell fought back to force a tiebreaker. Li and van der Sman recovered for a 7-3 win in the tiebreaker to pull out the 8-7 win and take a 2-1 match lead.
The tight battle continued into singles play where every point was crucial. Case struck first when Chaitanya Aduru took down Li 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 before WashU rebounded with Altmeyer's 6-3, 6-1 win over Vishwa Aduru at No. 2 to put the Bears in front 3-2.
Singh fell to Kanam 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6 to knot the score at 3-all before Hillis toughed out a three-set win over Hopper 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 to put the Bears back in front 4-3.
Nearly an hour after the rest of the courts had finished, van der Sman continued battling Chen at No. 3 while Ramireddy was in a stalemate with Powell at No. 5. Van der Sman eventually succumbed 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 while Ramireddy fell 7-6(0), 6-7(5), 6-4 to end the marathon.
"It was just a stressful year just hoping we would have a championship," said WashU head coach Roger Follmer. "I told them as time passes, this memory will get better. It was a whole rollercoaster ride this season. It was just awesome that we got here."
The Spartans advance to face fellow University Athletic Association member and defending champion Emory (9-3) at 2 p.m. in tomorrow's title match. Emory advanced to the finals with a 5-1 win over Johns Hopkins.
The postseason continues for a trio of Bears who will compete in the NCAA Division III Individual Championships Friday through Sunday, May 28-30 at the Champions Tennis Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hillis and Altmeyer will compete in the singles draw while Altmeyer will team up with Ramireddy in the doubles competition.
