Doovy HanOn May 15, the Washington University men’s tennis team captured its first national championship after defeating Emory University 5-3 in Lewiston, Maine. The Golden Eagles suffered their second consecutive loss in the championship match while Wash. U. won the title in its first appearance in the title match. The Bears also avenged a loss to Emory in the UAA Championships final on April 27.
“We realized when last season was over that we would have a chance at the national championship this year. We had everyone returning from a team that made a run to the Elite Eight and recruits that we knew would help the team.We knew we’d be competing at the end of the year,” junior Chris Hoeland said.
Wash. U. jumped out to an early lead after doubles play, as the 18th ranked doubles team of juniors Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland won at first doubles 8-4, overcoming a 0-4 deficit. Sophomore John Watts and junior Nirmal Choradia win by the same margin at second doubles. The freshman duo of Isaac Stein and Max Woods fell 5-8 at third doubles to give Wash. U. a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
Stein started singles play nicely for the Red and Green with a 6-3, 6-2 win at sixth singles to give the Bears a 3-1 lead in the race to five. Emory then evened the match with a 3-6, 4-6 win over Woods at fourth singles and a 6-4, 6-3 win by No. 20 Michael Goodwin over top-ranked Watts at first singles.
Wash. U. stormed back to take a 4-3 lead after Hoeland captured fifth singles with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 come from behind win while second and third singles were still early in the final set.
Sophomore Danny Levy clinched the win for Wash. U. with a come from behind win at third singles, taking the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
“After my match finished, before I could even shake my opponents hand, I got mobbed by all of my teammates who ran out onto the court into a huge pile, and we started the celebration. I don’t think any of us had ever been nearly that excited before for any reason, so it was one of the best experiences and feelings of our lives,” Levy said.
“I was just like ‘Oh my god, we won, we did it!’ I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I could, but it was just like finally, all of this hard work has paid off. It was amazing,” Hoeland added.
The march to the title match began on campus for the fifth ranked Bears, and the team easily defeated Grinnell College and DePauw University 5-1 and 6-0 to advance to the Elite Eight on the campus of Bates College. In the Elite Eight, the Red and Green defeated No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus College 5-0 before winning for the second time this season against second ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5-1.
Despite the magnitude of the NCAA tournament, the team stayed relatively loose throughout.
“We all have a great time hanging out with each other, so staying loose wasn’t a problem in Maine. Yet, at the same time, we were all aware of the gravity of the moment, and come match time, everybody took their responsibilities very seriously, and we managed to compete with a great deal of focus every match,” co-captain Mark Partridge said.
Not only was the team ecstatic to win the title, but the entire Washington University community was thrilled to have taken down Emory, the school’s biggest rival, though tensions between the two universities have subsided in recent years.
“It truly does. And it goes beyond us [this team]. Emory has had our number since we joined the UAA Conference in the late 80s. They have won conference ever single year on the women’s side and all but once on the men. Countless WU affiliates have congratulated our team on not only winning NCAA’s but also taking down a program rich in tennis history. It has been awesome telling the non-fiction tale time and time again of our run to the NCAA tournament title to our WU tennis alumni that have called or e-mailed us,” Head Coach Roger Follmer said on defeating Emory.
“We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We have a strong rivalry with that team, and with our contentious history, it was great to win a national title over them,” Hoeland added.
The team concluded a dominant year by Washington University athletics, a year that saw the volleyball team win its ninth national title and the men’s basketball and tennis teams bring home their first national championships, also the first and second by a male team at Wash. U. These titles, as well as NCAA tournament berths by both soccer teams, the women’s basketball, softball, track and field and tennis teams and a strong showing by both swimming and diving teams at the NCAA Championships have thrust Wash. U. to the top of the Director’s Cup standings. Wash. U. scored 899 points to take second, which is the highest finish in school history.