LEXINGTON, Va. – For the second time in as many matches, sophomore
Sanjheev Rao played the role of hero for the 27th-ranked Washington and Lee men's tennis team, as he clinched the final team point for a 4-3 win over No. 15 Sewanee on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With the match tied, 3-3, Rao and Max Verellen were left to decide the result at No. 6 singles. Verellen claimed the first set by a 6-4 score, before Rao fought back for a 6-3 win in the second set. Verellen then looked to tie the third set at five games apiece when he took a 40-0 lead, but Rao proceeded to win four points in a row to end the match as his teammates mobbed him on the court.
The Generals (5-0) started off on the right foot by winning 2-of-3 doubles matches to gain the 1-0 lead heading to singles. Seniors
Evan Erb and
Will Kistler cruised at No. 1, 6-1, with senior
James Kurani and first-year
Ryan Good dropping only two games at No. 3.
The Tigers (3-2) roared back in singles play and won each of the first three matches to finish to gain a 3-1 lead. Gil Weston (4) and Quinn Wicklund (3) won in straight sets, while Jordan Theron fought off Erb in three sets at No. 1. Kurani then kickstarted the W&L comeback with a three-set win over Ben Lammert at No. 2 (6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1).
Sophomore
Heys Parker then kept the Generals' hopes of a win alive at No. 5 as he dispatched Talman Ramsey in straight sets (6-2, 7-5), leaving it up to Rao to finish the job.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Erb's and Theron's singles battle marked a rematch between the two players from last season's NCAA Tournament Round of 32 contest at No. 1. Theron is currently the 28th nationally-ranked player in Division III and ninth in the region, to Erb's No. 44 national ranking and No. 12 in the region.
Sunday's victory marked the second straight in which Rao decided the team result in the final singles match. This came after a three-set win over Christopher Newport's Gabe Smith at No. 6 on Friday, in which Rao finished off the match, 7-2, in the decisive tiebreak.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action when they host No. 14 Johns Hopkins on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to kick-off the Duchossois Tennis Invitational.
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.
