For the Bears, having no news may, in fact, be good news.
Little changed this past week, as the now ninth-ranked Wash. U. men’s tennis team continued its charge towards the end of the year. The Bears defeated Division II opponent Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 9-0 last Wednesday, April 18 before following that with a 5-0 sweep of Lindenwood University this past Tuesday, extending the team’s winning streak to 12 wins.
Against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, sophomore Charlie Cutler led the way with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at first singles and teamed with classmate Chris Hoeland to also capture the first doubles, by a score of 8-5. Hoeland played at second singles, a spot higher than his normal third singles, and dropped a set before emerging triumphant, 3-6, 5-5 (retired). The Bears did not drop another set on the way to the team’s 11th straight victory.
Wash. U. followed a similar script on Tuesday, when the Bears again swept the doubles to pace team victory. Cutler and Hoeland teamed at first doubles to win, 8-1. Sophomores Nirmal Choradia and Trevis Bowman joined forces at second doubles for an 8-1 triumph, and freshman John Watts and junior captain Charlie Howard won at third doubles, 8-0.
Other wins for the Bears came at fifth and sixth singles, where neither Howard nor Choradia gave up a set en route to victories. With the 5-0 victory in hand, the remainder of the singles matches could not be completed. The Bears had, nonetheless, won their 12th straight match.
With the wins, Cutler has vaulted to the 10th-ranked singles spot in all of Division III tennis. He is now 11-5 for the year at first singles, alone, and 18-6 overall. Watts, the 14th-ranked player nationally, has won 14 straight matches and is 14-1 for the year at second singles and 24-4 overall. Other notable streaks belong to Howard, who has won 11 straight singles matches, and freshman Danny Levy, who has won 10 straight.
The Bears are now 16-3 overall on the season, after only a 4-3 start. Wash. U. is ranked ninth nationally as a team heading into the coveted UAA Championships this coming weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the UAA Championships, the Bears will first face New York University on Friday at 1:30 p.m. before taking on either Carnegie Mellon University or Case Western Reserve University on Saturday. In the case that the Bears advance to the finals, they will play on Sunday.
Wash. U. has already defeated NYU earlier this year, by a score of 9-0 on March 13 in California.