The No. 4-ranked Emory men's tennis team saw its season come to an end Monday evening as it was defeated by No. 5 Washington University in the quarterfinals of the NCAA D-III Championships. The Bears advance to the semifinals and boost their record to 21-5 following a 5-3 win over the Eagles who closed out their season with a slate of 18-7. The D-III Championships are being held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
Emory found itself facing a 2-1 obstacle after doubles with the senior duo of Alex Ruderman and Ian Wagner accounting for the team's point, registering an 8-6 decision over Jeremy Bush and Ross Putterman at the No. 1 post. The victory was their 21st in 30 decisions this year and knotted the match score at 1-1. Wash U then captured the rubber point of doubles with a 9-8 win (8-6) at No. 3.
The Bears pushed their lead to 3-1 when Putterman nailed down the first singles match of the contest, besting Eric Halpern at No. 2 singles, before Ruderman brought Emory to within one point with his 6-0, 6-1 triumph over John Carswell at No. 1, which raised his season slate to 20-9. WU re-claimed a two-point match advantage when Jason Haugen registered a straight-set win over Emory's Aman Maji at No. 6. The Eagles stayed within striking distance when they narrowed the gap to one point, thanks to another inspired performance by junior Rafe Mosetick that saw him rally for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, outcome over Bush at third singles. For Mosetick, who trailed Bush, 1-4 in the second set before rattling off five straight games, it marked his team-leading 26th win of the year, tying for 10th place on the program's seasonal ladder and the sixth time in '14-15 that he came away with a three-set win after dropping the opening set. However, Emory saw its comeback bid come up ever-so-short as the Bear's Johnny Wu manufactured a three-set win at fifth singles.
With the team portion of the Championships concluded for Emory, the Eagles will send seniors Alex Ruderman and Eric Halpern into the Singles Championship, with Ruderman teaming with classmate Ian Wagner in the doubles competition. Action in those competitions begin on Thursday, May 21.
