The No. 11 men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Division III National Quarterfinals for the third time in school history by defeating No. 17 Kalamazoo College May 2 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sophomore Eric Borden clinched the victory for the Bears at No. 6 singles, winning a hard-fought three-set match against Luke Marker, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. Borden is 18-6 overall in singles, including 13-2 at No. 6.
The Bears won the doubles point for the second-straight match, posting wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Senior Brian Alvo and sophomore Ari Rosenthal continued their dominance at No. 1 doubles as they improved to 17-7 with an 8-1 victory. WUSTL advanced to the second round after a 4-1 victory against DePauw University in the first round May 1.
The Bears (14-9) will now have a week off before traveling to the quarterfinals, May 12-14 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
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The No. 12 women’s tennis squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament before falling to Denison, 7-2, May 2 in Granville, Ohio. The Bears opened the tournament with an 8-1 win against Albion College May 1. The win marked the third time Washington U. had posted a win over Albion this year — the Bears prevailed 7-2 in the first meeting and 6-3 in the second matchup.
The Bears got the early lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. Senior Rathi Mani and sophomore Lauren Zwick combined for an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles against Emily and Karen Dumas. At No. 2 doubles, senior Laura Greenberg and junior Kacie Cook rallied from a 7-1 deficit to post a 9-7 win against Emily Stocker and Katie Tornga.
In singles action, WUSTL cruised through all six matches, winning each match in straight sets. Cook notched her 16th singles win of the year at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Karen Dumas while Laura Greenberg improved to 21-6 with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Tornga at No. 2 singles. Zwick defeated Netherton, 6-2, 7-6, at No. 3 singles in the closest match of the day as she captured the tiebreaker, 8-6, to close out her 18th singles win of the year.
WUSTL was not as fortunate against Denison in second-round action. The Bears were swept in doubles play and Denison won four of the six singles matches. With the weekend split, the Bears ended the season at 20-5.
The No. 10 softball team split a doubleheader May 2 with Wartburg College at the WUSTL Softball Field. The Bears won Game 1, 2-1, to gain a school-record 31st victory, then dropped the nightcap, 4-1.
WUSTL will make its third- straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament as the Bears earned an at-large bid, the NCAA Softball Committee announced May 3. Washington U. will play in the six-team Midwest Regional today through May 9 at Central College in Pella, Iowa.
The Bears are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional and will receive a bye in the first round. No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Superior will take on No. 5 Maryville University in the opening game in today’s first round, and No. 3 Central College plays No. 6 Clarke College in Game 2.
The winner of Wisconsin-Superior/Maryville will take on No. 1 University of St. Thomas in Game 3 and WUSTL will play the winner of Central/Clarke in Game 4.
The baseball team (16-17) split its two games last week. The Bears fell to Webster University, 9-7, April 27 at GMC Stadium in Sauget, Ill. Senior Ryan Argo helped WUSTL build a 7-4 lead with a fifth-inning grand slam, Argo is batting .374 with a team-high nine home runs, just one shy of tying the Bears single-season record. The Bears then knocked off Maryville University, 4-3, April 29 in St. Louis behind the left arm of senior Adam Cowley. Cowley pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and two runs while striking out seven.
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