Men’s Tennis: #20 Garnet Advance Past #14 Washington
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Junior Adam Wallwork rallied back from down a set win at No. 5 singles, sending #20 Swarthmore to a 4-3 victory over #14 Washington (Md.) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Team Tennis Championships hosted by University of Mary Washington on Saturday morning.
Swarthmore (7-10) will face the winner of host #7 Mary Washington, 4-1 winners over Johns Hopkins on Saturday, in second round action on Sunday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m.
The Garnet took the two out of three in doubles action to earn the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage. Jon Reiss '07 and Jon Lo '08, Swarthmore's No. 2 doubles pair, downed Washington's Mike Edison and Maciek Prytula 8-4 while the top Garnet pair, seniors Zac Rodd and Brian Park, downed the Shoremen's top duo, Arturo Solis and Tim Riskie (ranked fourth in the Atlantic South Region), 8-5 to clinch the point. The third doubles' match (matching the Garnet duo of Kevin Shaughnessy and Sam Sidhu against Washington's Anantha Bhaskar and Rafael Roldan) was suspended at 6-6 with the doubles' point already decided.
The Shoremen took a 2-1 lead by winning at No. 6 and No. 3 singles; Roldan downed Swarthmore's Sam Sidhu 6-3, 6-1 while Bhaskar got past Park 6-1, 6-3. The Garnet got rolling when Reiss remained unbeaten in Division III (10-0) with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Riskie at the second flight. Lo fought back from down a set at No. 3s to defeat Edison 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 putting Swarthmore up 3-2. Solis, the top-ranked player in the region, battled past Rodd (ranked fifth in the region) at No. 1s 6-4, 7-6 to even the match. This left the No. 5 match-up to decide who would advance to the second round.
Wallwork dropped the first set 2-6 to Washington's Prytula, but Wallwork re-grouped to win the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2 to advance the Garnet into the second round.
This is the third consecutive year Swarthmore has eliminated Washington from the NCAA Tournament. All three occasions have taken place in the first round and ended with a score of 4-3.
Swarthmore 4, Washington 3
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Park/Rodd (SC) d. Solis/Riskie (WC) 8-5
No. 2 - Reiss/Lo (SC) d. Edison/ Prytula (WC) 8-4
No. 3 - Kevin Shaughnessy/ Sidhu (SC) vs. Bhaksar/Roldan (WC) 6-6 sus.
SINGLES
No. 1 - Arturo Solis (WC) d. Zac Rodd (SC) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 2 - Jon Reiss (SC) d. Tim Riskie (WC) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 - Anantha Bhaskar (WC)) d Brian Park (SC) 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 - Jonathan Lo (SC) d. Mike Edison (WC) 1-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 - Adam Wallwork (SC) d. Maciek Prytula (WC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 - Rafael Roldan (WC) d. Sam Sidhu (SC) 6-3, 6-1