LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 20 Washington and Lee men's tennis team ground out a 4-2 win against Averett to celebrate Senior Day on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Cougars (10-4, 5-1 ODAC) struck first by winning the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3. Sam Egui and Rafael Jodas (2), along with Florian Bert and Alex Donnelly (3), won by 6-4 scores to clinch the doubles point. At No. 1, seniors
Evan Erb and
Will Kistler went unfinished but led Prabjeet Chandhok and Jaeden Mukkaladyil, 5-4, when the doubles point was clinched.
The Generals (12-6, 8-0 ODAC) quickly bounced into the lead when Erb (1) and senior
James Kurani (3) both won in straight sets. Erb topped Satwik Kollepalli 6-2, 6-1, while Kurani dropped just five games in his win. Averett then leveled the team score at 2-2 when Chandhok defeated senior
Eli Hirshberg 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4.
In what ended up as the Generals' most crucial singles match of the day, Kistler and Mukkaladyil battled back and forth at No. 2, each winning one set to go to a third. With Kistler down, 2-3, in the third, Mukkaladyil broke Kistler's serve to take a two-game lead and move within two games of winning. Kistler responded with a break of Mukkaladyil's serve to get back within a game, before Kistler went on to hold serve, break Mukkaladyil again and hold one final time to put the Blue and White ahead, 3-2, for the match.
Moments later, Parker, who trailed by a game in the second set before winning two straight to take a 5-4 lead, clinched the match point against Jodas. His final score read 6-4, 6-4.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Randolph at 4:30 p.m.
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.
