Men's Tennis Falls to No. 4 Emory in ITA Indoor National Championship

RESULTS

Fredericksburg, Va., February 20, 2011 – No. 4 ranked Emory University rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim the 2011 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship with a 6-3 victory over the No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis men’s tennis team on Sunday afternoon in Fredericksburg, Va.

Washington U. jumped out quickly to a 2-0 lead following a pair of 8-3 victories at No. 2 and No.3 doubles. Freshman Max Franklin and sophomore Adam Putterman remained unbeaten this season as they rolled past Colin Egan and Dillon Pottish at No. 3, and then minutes later, junior Cameron Chiang and sophomore Kareem Farah posted an identical score over Alex Chun and Eric Rothschild at No. 2 doubles.

Emory, which has only trailed once following doubles play this season, avoided the sweep as the Division III’s No. 2 ranked doubles team of Chris Goodwin and Will Humphreys upended Washington University’s No. 19 ranked team of seniors Isaac Stein and Max Woods at No. 1, 8-5.

Emory (7-1) took a 3-2 lead by sweeping the top two singles matches. Pottish, the top-ranked player in Division III, improved to 16-1 this season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 12 Stein at No. 1 singles. Goodwin, ranked No. 9 in Division III, posted a 6-1, 7-5 win over No. 30 Woods at No. 2 singles, improving his singles record to 9-1.

The Eagles extended the advantage to 4-2, as Nick Szczurek posted a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-2) over sophomore Gary Parizher at No. 4 singles. Emory clinched the match following Simon LaPerusse’s 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 win over sophomore Bryan Haywood. Farah posted the lone victory for the Bears in singles, a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 10-8 win over Rothschild at No. 6.

This marked the fourth-straight year Emory and Washington University met at the ITA Indoor National Championships. Washington U. defeated Emory, 7-2, in the third-place match in 2008, while Emory posted a 6-3 victory in the national championship match in 2009. Washington U. upended Emory, 5-4, in the semifinals a year ago.

Washington University (4-2) returns to the court on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26, at the Principia College Tournament in Elsah, Ill. A year ago, the Bears won five of seven singles flights and swept all three doubles flights at Principia.

Bear Notebook: Washington University is 4-2 against ranked teams this season … The Bears were making their third-straight ITA National Indoor Championship appearance.