SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The No. 8 Swarthmore College men's tennis team advanced to the national quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 with a thrilling 4-1 victory over No. 9 Carnegie Mellon University in the Round of 16 on Sunday afternoon at Faulkner Courts.
The Garnet claimed the doubles point and
Max Lindstrom earned a win at second singles to put Swarthmore up 2-0. The Tartans got a point back but
Rishi Verma and
Nikola Galov grabbed back-to-back victories to send the Garnet to the final eight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Lindstrom and
Winston Zhang won their first three games at third doubles and cruised to a 6-1 win to start off the match.
Andres Fente and
Kai Chen got out to a 4-1 advantage at the second spot and finished off a 6-3 success to put Swarthmore in front.
Michael Melnikov and
Utham Koduri were deadlocked 4-4 in a battle at first doubles when play was halted.
- Lindstrom rolled to a 6-2 triumph in his opening set of singles. The senior was down 3-1 in the second but rallied to win five consecutive games and earn a 6-3 decision to give his squad a 2-0 lead. However, Carnegie Mellon got on the board with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory at first singles to close the gap to one.
- Verma trailed 3-1 in the first set at third singles. He then fought back to win six of the next eight games, four of them against serve, to take the set 7-5. Verma was even at two in the second before going on a 4-1 run to win the match with a 6-3 decision, putting the Garnet one point from victory.
- Galov took the opener at the fourth spot 6-4. He then trailed 4-3 in the second set. The rookie held serve to tie it up before earning a break for a 5-4 advantage. Galov took control in the final game, blowing an ace past his opponent on match point to secure advancement for Swarthmore with a 6-4 triumph.
UP NEXT
The Garnet (22-6) will take on Tufts University in the national quarterfinals on May 19 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
