ROME, Ga. – Junior
Evan Erb of the Washington and Lee men's tennis team completed a massive third-set comeback in the ITA Cup Round of 16 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Erb cruised to a one-set lead over Matthew Michibata of The College of New Jersey by a 6-1 score, before the two battled it out over the next two sets. Erb held a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Michibata clawed back by winning four of the next six games to force a tiebreak. Michibata then took a 4-1 point lead, Erb fought to retake a 6-5 lead, but Michibata closed it out with three straight points to force the third set.
Michibata kept his momentum going into the third set and opened up a 4-1 then a 5-2 lead, needing to win just one more game to close the match. Erb dug deep and rattled off an incredible five straight wins to stun Michibata and advance in the tournament. During that run, Michibata had a match point at 5-4, but Erb fought that off to keep the match going.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With his win, Erb has met a criterium designated by the ITA to be named an All-American (winning in the ITA Cup Round of 16). Erb will officially be named an All-American in June of 2024 following the conclusion of the NCAA singles and doubles championships in St. Louis, Mo.
Once announced, Erb will become the first All-American for the W&L men's tennis program since Michael Holt '16 and Taylor Shamshiri '15 as a doubles team in 2014. The last singles All-American for the program was Hayden White '13 in 2013.
UP NEXT:
Erb will continue his ITA Cup run on Friday at 1:30 p.m., where he will face Julian Wu of Middlebury in the quarterfinals. Wu defeated Eli Mizerski of George Fox on Thursday, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. To view the updated ITA Cup bracket, click
here and navigate to the "Men's Open Singles" event in the "Division III" draw.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
