LEXINGTON, Va. – The 23rd-ranked Washington and Lee men's tennis team fell by a final score of 4-3 against No. 37 Averett in the ODAC championship match on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (16-7) picked up an early advantage when senior
James Kurani and sophomore
Heys Parker won, 6-2, at No. 2 doubles against Sam Egui and Rafael Jodas. The Cougars (16-4) had a response, however, when Jaeden Mukkaladyil and Prabjeet Chandhok evened the doubles score with a 6-3 win at No. 1. The No. 3 doubles match then proceeded to a tiebreak, where sophomore
Sanjheev Rao and first-year
Ryan Good dominated for a 7-1 win and a 1-0 team lead.
Senior
Evan Erb moved the Generals one notch closer to a win with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Satwik Kollepalli, before Rao earned a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lucas Fiandra at No. 6 for a 3-0 W&L lead.
The Cougars kept their title hopes alive when Chandhok outlasted first-year
Sahil Arora 6-3, 7-6 (1) at No. 4 just moments before Mukkaladyil topped senior
Will Kistler 6-2, 7-6 (4) at No. 2. Florian Bert and Kurani battled into a third set at No. 3, where Bert claimed the final set by a 6-3 score to even the team score and leave it up to the No. 5 spot.
Jodas and Parker squared off at No. 5 for the team championship, and Parker rallied after dropping the first set, 6-3, for a 6-3 win of his own in the second to tie things back up. Jodas went on to win 6-of-7 games played in the third set to cap off the Cougars' championship run.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
This marks the first season since 2009 that Washington and Lee did not raise the ODAC Tournament trophy. In fact, it was the Generals' first loss to an ODAC opponent since dropping a 5-4 decision at Virginia Wesleyan on April, 17, 2016, a span of 103 matches across both regular season and ODAC tournament play.
UP NEXT:
The Generals, who finished the tournament with an overall record of 16-7, will now look for an at-large bid in the 2025 NCAA Championship. The selection show will air on ncaa.com on Monday at 12:30 p.m. Individually, the NCAA will also announce the Division III Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championship participants and alternates this Wednesday, May 7, via press release.
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.
