MAYFIELD, Ohio – The 21st-ranked Washington and Lee men's tennis team closed out its time at the Ohio Invite on Sunday with a 5-2 loss against No. 4 Denison.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Big Red (12-2) clinched the doubles point from wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The Generals (10-6) shook up their doubles lineup from recent matches to feature senior
Will Kistler and first-year
Ryan Good at No. 1, with senior
Evan Erb and sophomore
Sanjheev Rao at No. 3. When the doubles point was clinched, senior
James Kurani and sophomore
Heys Parker trailed at No. 2, 5-4.
The Generals fell in the first four singles matches to finish but ended the match on a high note with wins at No. 1 and No. 6. Erb faced off against sixth-ranked Kael Shah at the top spot and won the first set, 6-4, before falling, 3-6, in the second. The two then played a 10-point tiebreak for a result, and Erb battled back from down 9-7 for a 12-10 win.
Rao also won his first set by a 6-4 score at No. 6 against Anthony Payiavlas, before a 6-4 win in the second for Payiavlas sent it to a 10-point breaker, as well. After the players switched sides at 3-3, Rao won five of the next six points for an 8-4 advantage, before closing the tiebreak at 10-6.
The Big Red won singles positions 2-5 in straight sets, with Parker coming closest to forcing a third at No. 5 in a 6-4, 7-6 (4) defeat. Kistler (4-6, 2-6) battled No. 38 Jacob Patterson at No. 2, Kurani (1-6, 3-6) fell at No. 3 against No. 2 Ethan Green, and senior
Eli Hirshberg (2-6, 2-6) was downed at No. 4 by Nick Meyers.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will regroup and return to action next Saturday, April 5, for a 1:00 p.m. match at Shenandoah.
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.
