The No. 11Â ranked Emory University men's tennis team is moving onto the regional finals of the NCAA Championships after defeating Stevens Institution of Technology, 4-0, in the second round Saturday morning in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
The Eagles blanked the Ducks in dominating fashion to advance to Sunday's final where they'll play the winner of No. 6Â Johns Hopkins or No. 36Â NC Wesleyan at 12:00 PM in Rocky Mount.
For doubles, Emory picked up the point on the strength of clinching points from its tandems on courts two and three. Senior Dean Kamenev and junior Joshua Lai came through first on the No.3 line with their 6-2 score and were followed nine minutes later with senior John Lasanajak and freshman Daniel Kim notching a 6-4 result on court two. When doubles play was abandoned, the Eagles held an additional lead on the No. 1 court with the sophomore duo of Ruilin Feng and Ajay Kartik in front at 6-3.
As play shifted to singles, the Eagles's back half of the lineup provided the clinching points as Emory collected the shutout.
Kim closed out a 6-0, 6-2 finish on court three before the finishing points were provided by Kartik and freshman Matthew Johnstone on courts four and five with Kartik recording a 6-3, 6-4 decision at No. 4 and Johnstone registering the final point at 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot.
At the conclusion of the match, the Eagles held additional leads on the three remaining courts with Feng in front 6-1, 1-2 on court one, Kamenev at 7-5, 2-3 on court two and junior Ryan Nash holding a 6-3, 3-2 edge on court six.