St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 7 Washington University in St. Louis men's tennis team pulled together an impressive 5-2 victory over No. 10 Denison on Sunday at Tao Tennis Center in the NCAA Championship third round match.
WashU advances on the quarterfinal round, marking its 15th consecutive appearance in program history to the Elite 8.
In addition, WashU claims another regional title with Sunday's victory. WashU will next travel to Orlando, Fla. on May 23 to face Middlebury in the quarterfinal round.
The Bears had a remarkable effort in doubles, as they earned two critical wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots.
Abhi Ramireddy/Daniel Li collected a massive win at the top spot, holding off Denison's Tim Cianciola/Jack Bulger 8-7 (4), pulling out a 7-4 tiebreaker victory to hand the DU duo its first loss of the year at No. 1 doubles (22-1).
At No. 3 doubles, Jared Phillips & Gaurav Singh pulled away with the lead midway through the match and closed out the finishing touches on an 8-4 win.
With WashU ahead 2-1, the Bears were in for a battle in singles action.
Singh stepped up with another strong performance at No. 4 singles, as he provided the Bears' first singles win of the day thanks to a 6-3, 6-1 win to push the Bears' lead out to 3-1.
Denison cut the lead down to 3-2 after a win at No. 1 singles, but the Bears would record two third-set victories within minutes from each other to seal the match.
Jared Phillips improved to 15-1 on the year at and bounced back in the third set, claiming a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles.
WashU led 4-2 needing just one last win to clinch the match. Senior James Shaheen would punch the Bears' ticket to Orlando not long after Phillips' win at No. 5 singles with a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 victory at the No. 6 position.
Results
#7 WashU Men 5, #10 Denison 2
Singles competition
1. Tim Cianciola (DENM) def. Abhi Ramireddy (WASHUM) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
2. Daniel Li (WASHUM) vs. Jack Bulger (DENM) 6-2, 5-7, 2-0, unfinished
3. Luke Smith (WASHUM) vs. Marc-Lennart Harms (DENM) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), unfinished
4. Gaurav Singh (WASHUM) def. Ryan Patrick (DENM) 6-3, 6-1
5. Jared Phillips (WASHUM) def. Andy Mackler (DENM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
6. James Shaheen (WASHUM) def. Daniel Garcia (DENM) 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Abhi Ramireddy/Daniel Li (WASHUM) def. Tim Cianciola/Jack Bulger (DENM) 8-7 (7-4)
2. Andy Mackler/Colin Gramley (DENM) def. Jeremy Ouyang/Scott Yamamoto (WASHUM) 8-6
3. Jared Phillips/Gaurav Singh (WASHUM) def. Marc-Lennart Harms/Blake Eason (DENM) 8-4
Match Notes:
Denison 23-4; National ranking #10
WashU Men 16-9; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,1,5,6)
