WU Defeats Gustavus Adolphus, 5-0, in NCAA Quarterfinals

WU-GUSTAVUS BOX

Lewiston, Maine, May 13, 2008 – A sweep in doubles keyed the No. 5 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men’s tennis team to a 5-0 victory over No. 6 ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in the quarterfinals of the 2008 NCAA Division III Championship on Tuesday at the Wallach Tennis Center in Lewiston, Maine.

Washington U, who will be making it first-ever appearance in the semifinals, takes on No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (ET). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeated No. 8 Williams College, 5-2, in the quarterfinals.

"We played good doubles today and had good energy throughout the whole match," said seventh-year head coach Roger Follmer. "Our focus all along has been our next match. We are going to have to continue what we did today into tomorrow’s match against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps."

The freshman duo of Isaac Stein and Max Woods began the match with a convincing 8-1 victory over Nick Hansen and Ben Tomasek at No. 3 doubles to put Washington U. up 1-0. The win for Stein and Woods improved their overall record to 8-1.

Junior Nirmal Choradia and sophomore John Watts, who were playing together for the second time this season, pushed WU’s lead to 2-0 with an 8-6 victory at No. 2.

The No. 3 Division III ranked team of juniors Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland gave Washington U. the sweep in doubles with an 8-5 win at No. 1. Leading 6-5 in the eight-game pro set, Cutler guided the Bears to a key break with three winners to give WU the 7-5 lead. Hoeland followed with a hold of serve for the 8-5 victory.

Stein pushed Washington U.’s lead to 4-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Kevin Stickney at No. 6 singles. He now has won 11-straight singles matches, and has a perfect 6-0 overall record in the NCAA Tournament.

Hoeland clinched the match for the Bears with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Aaron Zenner at No. 5 singles. Hoeland, who has won nine-straight singles matches, captured the 110th victory of his career.

This marked the fifth time in school history the Bears have advanced to the quarterfinals. Washington U. also made appearances in 1986, 2003, 2004 and 2007. Gustavus was making its ninth-straight NCAA quarterfinals appearance.

Washington U. and Gustavus Adolphus had met just once before in school history, with the then second-ranked Gusties defeating the Bears, 6-1, in Saint Peter, Minn., in 2002.