A year after winning its first ITA Indoor championship, the Washington University men’s tennis team fell short of duplicating the result as it placed third in the 2015 tournament over the weekend in St. Peter, Minn.

In a field of eight ranked teams, including six top-10 programs, the No. 5 Bears defeated No. 12 Kenyon College, 5-4, and lost to No. 6 Emory University, 6-3, before defeating No. 7 Johns Hopkins University, 6-3, in the third-place match.

In the first round, the Red and Green trailed 3-1 against Kenyon before winning three of the next four singles matches to set up a deciding match in sixth-flight singles. With the contest on the line, senior Kevin Chu cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 straight-set victory to propel the Bears to victory and stymie Kenyon’s upset bid. Chu had also teamed up with freshman Jason Haugen earlier in the day to earn the lone doubles triumph, 8-5, for Wash. U.

Facing off against conference rival Emory in the semifinals, the Bears fell behind early in doubles and couldn’t catch up. After the Eagles swept all three doubles matches, the Red and Green played competitively in singles play, but they lost three consecutive three-set matches before winning the final three with the outcome already decided. Notably, freshman Johnny Wu improved to 8-1 in singles play in his Wash. U. career with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 win in fourth-flight play.

On Sunday morning, the Bears bounced back and came away with a lead after doubles play for the first time in the tournament. The duo consisting of sophomore Jeremy Bush and senior Ross Putterman notched a 10-8 win in first-flight doubles while Chu and Naugen teamed up again to win second-flight doubles, 9-7.

Holding onto a 2-1 lead heading into singles play, Putterman and Bush each earned singles victories by scores of 7-6, 6-4, and 6-3, 6-3, respectively, to put Johns Hopkins on the brink of defeat. In fifth-flight singles, Wu recorded a straight-set 6-2, 6-2 win to seal the victory and a third-place plaque for the Red and Green.

After this weekend’s three games, the Bears are now 3-1 in the spring season, with all of those matches coming against ranked opponents. Wash. U. will play its first unranked team next Sunday when it hosts Sewanee University at the Tao Tennis Center.