Watts Picks Up a Pair of Victories in Loss to No. 3 Claremont

Oberlin, Ohio, May 27, 2010 – The No. 7 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men’s tennis team suffered a 5-2 defeat to No. 3 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the third place match of the 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship on Thursday afternoon in Oberlin, Ohio.

Washington University concluded the 2009-10 season with a 20-6 overall record, and was making its third-straight Final Four appearance.

The Bears trailed 2-1 after doubles play, as senior John Watts and freshman Kareem Farah posted the lone victory with an 8-2 victory over Eric MacColl and Brandon Wei at No. 2 doubles.

Watts evened the match with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles over Robbie Erani. That would be the lone victory for the Bears in singles, as CMS picked up three straight-set victories at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 2 singles.

Watts improved his overall record to 30-5 with the singles victory, and will make his fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in singles set for Friday-Sunday, May 28-30. Junior Isaac Stein will join Watts in the 32-man singles field, while Stein and junior Max Woods are one of 16 doubles teams selected.

Bear Notebook: The Bears dropped a 5-3 decision to Emory University in the third-place match a year ago … The Bears were 10-5 against nationally ranked team in 2009-10.