Men's Tennis Blanks #8 Williams, 5-0, in NCAA Third-Place Match
BRACKET | RESULTS
Claremont, Calif., May 26, 2011 – The No. 5 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men’s tennis team picked up its 20th win of the season with a 5-0 victory over No. 8 ranked Williams College in the third-place match of the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship on Thursday afternoon in Claremont, Calif.
Washington University concludes the season with a 20-6 overall record, while Williams end the season with a 17-9 mark. Washington U. has now won 20 or more matches in five-straight seasons under 10th-year head coach Roger Follmer.
“We learned from yesterday’s experience against Emory in doubles,” said Follmer, who picked up career win number 175 on Thursday. “It was great to send the seniors out with a win today, and to end the season with a victory.”
Washington U. set the tone from the beginning of the match, winning all three doubles points to jump out to a commanding 3-0 lead. Junior Cameron Chiang and sophomore Kareem Farah rolled past Richard Meyer and Felix Sun, 8-3, at second doubles to get the Bears off to a good start. The victory for Chiang was the 60th of his career.
Seniors Isaac Stein and Max Woods trailed Matt Michelli and Bryan Chow, 7-6, at No. 1 doubles, but reeled off three-straight games for the 9-7 victory. The victory for Woods was the 170th of his career, becoming the fourth player in school history to record 170 or more wins.
“Max and I have not played our best doubles this week, and it was same story early in match. We realized this was our final match, and wanted to end on a good note,” Stein said. “Today we wanted to go out and play strong doubles as a team, and that is what we did.”
Sophomores Gary Parizher and Adam Putterman also had to come from behind at third doubles, posting a 9-8 win over Kevin Shallcross and Will Petrie. 
Leading 3-0, Washington U. quickly put Williams away with a pair of 6-3, 6-2 victories. Sophomore Bryan Haywood ousted Dylan Page at No. 6 singles, and then Farah upset #50 ranked Bryan Chow at fifth singles to clinch the match. Farah completed NCAA Tournament play with a perfect 3-0 record, and finished the season with a 20-5 overall mark.
“Kareem had a tremendous season and a great NCAA Tournament,” said Follmer. “The entire sophomore class learned a lot at the ITA Indoor Championship, and really improved throughout the year.”
Woods will represent Washington University in the 32-man NCAA Division III singles draw, while Stein and Woods are one of 16 doubles teams selected. Stein was also selected to compete in singles, but had to pull out of the draw due to a back injury. Woods takes on Matt Bettles of Bates Colleges on Friday at 11 a.m. (PT), followed by Stein and Woods’ opening round doubles match against Riley Baver and Kaz Murata of the University of Mary Washington at 5 p.m. (PT). The individual championships will be played Friday-Sunday, May 27-29, at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Pomona, Calif.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. was 12-6 this season against nationally ranked teams … The Bears were making their fourth-straight appearance in the Final Four (2008-National Champion; 2009-Fourth Place; 2010-Fourth Place) … The win over Williams College was Follmer’s first in four chances (1-3 record) … Woods is 170-71 in his four-year career, while Stein is 154-66 … The Class of 2011 (Stein, Woods, David Zhu) guided Washington University to a 83-20 (.806) record in their four years on the Danforth Campus.