The No. 1-ranked Emory men's tennis team opened defense of its ITA National Indoor Championship on a successful note Friday evening, defeating host and No. 25-ranked Gustavus Adolphus.  The Eagles came away with an 8-1 triumph, raising their spring mark to 4-1.

Gustavus captured the first and its only point of the contest at No. 2 doubles before seeing Emory claim the next two points.  The Eagles' No. 3 tandem of Jackson Isaacs and Will Adams evened the match at 1-1 with an 8-5 win over Joe MacGibbon and Brad Entwistle, before the No. 1 duo of Elliot Kahler and Ian Wagner put Emory ahead for good with its 8-6 verdict over Amrik Donkena and Mya Smith-Dennis. 

Wagner's 6-4, 6-3 win over Juan Luis Chu at No. 3 singles raised his spring record to 5-0 and pushed Emory's advantage to 3-1 while Eric Halpern's 6-3, 6-4 outcome against Smith-Dennis put Emory one point from sealing the victory.  Sophomore Alex Ruderman came through with the clinching point at No. 2 singles, topping Donkena, 6-4, 6-4.  Other Emory singles winners included Rafe Mosetick at No. 5, Kahler at No. 4 and Nick Szczurek at No. 6.

The win puts Emory into Saturday's semifinal round where it will meet Trinity (Tex.).