The men’s tennis team captured its first NCAA Division III national championship with a 5-3 victory over Emory University May 15 in Lewiston, Maine.
The national championship is the third for WUSTL in the 2007-08 school year. The women’s volleyball team was crowned champions last November, and the men’s basketball team picked up its title in March.
Now, the tennis team gets a national championship banner of its own.
Sophomore Danny Levy clinched the match for the Bears with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 come-from-behind victory over David Caplan at No. 3 singles.
“I got down a break in the second set and continued to battle back,” said Levy, who upped his career record to 43-9. “It was so incredible, and my teammates were cheering loud, which helped me out. Everyone on the team jumped the fence and swarmed me. It was a great feeling.”
The team of juniors Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland fell behind to Michael Goodwin and Caplan, 4-0, at No. 1 doubles. Cutler and Hoeland answered back with four breaks of serve and four holds to post an 8-4 win. The victory was the 25th of the year for the duo.
“It was not the start we were looking for in doubles,” Hoeland said. “We finally started returning well and got a couple breaks and the momentum.”
The Bears (21-4) made it 2-0 as junior Nirmal Choradia and sophomore John Watts defeated Mark Boren and Hardy Ehlers at No. 2 doubles, 8-4. Choradia and Watts went 4-0 since being paired up May 4 in the third round of the tournament.
Emory captured its lone point in doubles as Oliver Lopp and Michael Kaufman posted an 8-5 win over the freshman tandem of Isaac Stein and Max Woods at No. 3.
Stein pushed WUSTL’s advantage to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Colin Egan at No. 6 singles. The victory for Stein was his 13th straight, improving his record to 16-2. The Eagles trimmed WUSTL’s advantage to 3-2 as Lopp posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Woods at No. 4 singles.
Goodwin, ranked 20th in singles, evened the match with a 6-4, 6-3 upset victory at No. 1 over Watts, the top-ranked player in Division III.
Hoeland pushed WUSTL’s lead to 4-3 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Ehlers. The win for Hoeland was his 11th straight and improved his overall record to 19-6.
“We have come a long way, and to be a part of history is great,” said seventh-year head coach Roger Follmer, who is
113-40 (.739) in seven seasons on the Danforth Campus. “The whole team should feel good about the accomplishment.”