ST. PETER, Minn. – On the first day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III National Team Indoor Championship, the University of Chicago men's tennis team grabbed a 5-4 win against Kenyon College on Friday morning.
The No. 4-ranked Maroons (5-0 record) began their defense of last year's team title as the third seed in the eight-team event. The No. 11-ranked Lords (4-1 record) came into the weekend as the sixth seed.
UChicago went up 2-1 after doubles action. The No. 3 combo of Tyler Raclin and Julius Kim took down an 8-4 win, while Erik Kerrigan and Jeremy Yuan were also impressive at the No. 1 spot, winning 8-3. Kenyon got on the board with a narrow tiebreak win at No. 2.
In singles play, the Maroons put themselves on the brink of victory with straight-set triumphs at No. 5 and No. 6. Junior Alejandro Rodriguez only dropped a single game (6-1, 6-0) and sophomore Alex Guzhva also moved through smoothly (6-3, 6-1).
The Lords responded with a win at No. 1. But UChicago clinched at No. 4 when junior Jeremy Yuan captured his third-set tiebreaker and the deciding fifth team point (6-1, 2-6, 7-6).
UChicago 5, Kenyon 4
Singles
1. Jacob Zalenski (KEN) def. Joshua Xu (UC) 7-6, 6-1
2. Austin Diehl (KEN) def. Erik Kerrigan (UC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Pascal Lee (KEN) def. Sachin Das (UC) 7-6, 5-7, 1-2, retired
4. Jeremy Yuan (UC) def. Thomas Kallarakal (KENM) 6-1, 2-6, 7-6
5. Alex Guzhva (UC) def. Bryan Yoshino (KENM) 6-3, 6-1
6. Alejandro Rodriguez (UC) def. Henry Wessel (KENM) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Erik Kerrigan/Jeremy Yuan (UC) def. Austin Diehl/Jacob Zalenski (KENM) 8-3
2. Pascal Lee/Luis Andres Platas (KEN) def. Sachin Das/Joshua Xu (UC) 8-7 (7-5)
3. Tyler Raclin/Julius Kim (UC) def. Bryan Yoshino/Evan Dean (KENM) 8-4
NEXT MATCH:
- Saturday, Feb. 22 @ 8:30 AM – UChicago vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (at St. Peter, Minn.)
