The No. 3 Washington University men’s tennis team arrived at the ITA Indoor championship in Cleveland, Ohio, with a top seed and lofty expectations. Both were swiftly tempered after back-to-back upset losses to the host, No. 14 Case Western University 6-3 in the first round, and defending ITA champions, No. 8 Trinity University (Texas) 7-2 in the consolation bracket. The Bears did, however, avoid a last-place finish with a win against Kenyon College, 5-4.

On Friday, the Red and Green faced off against the eighth-seed Case Western. Falling behind 1-2 after doubles play, the Bears struggled to overcome the deficit. A dominant win by junior John Carswell at fourth singles 6-1, 6-0, evened the score 2-2, but Case Western secured four of the next five singles matches to earn the victory.

A member of the Wash. U. men’s tennis team makes a volley during a match against Chicago last April. This weekend, the men’s team defeated Kenyon but lost to Trinity and Case at the ITA National Team Indoors tournament.

Attempting to bounce back the next day, Wash. U. fell behind once again in doubles play, this time getting swept 3-0 by fifth-seeded Trinity. Senior Tyler Kratky and Carswell were the only two winners that day for Wash. U. at third and fourth flight singles, respectively. With the pair of losses in the two opening rounds, the Bears suffered their first losing streak since the 2012-13 season.

The seventh-place match was patently not where the top-seeded Bears wanted to be, but the team showed resilience against six-seed Kenyon. Teams of junior Jeremy Bush/freshman Konrad Kozlowski and freshman Radha Vishnubhotla/sophomore Shaun Berman captured wins at second and third doubles, while Wash. U. split doubles play to earn the close victory. Carswell continued his singles dominance, coming back after dropping the first set, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to win his third individual match of the tournament. Sophomore Jake Klein also pulled out a close win 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4 at fifth-flight singles.

After a disappointing performance at ITA Indoors, the Bears will get a three-week hiatus before they host No. 33 Depauw University at the Tao Tennis Center on March 12.