Feb. 22, 2013

Box Score

ST. PETER, MN - The Johns Hopkins men's tennis team battled back from an early 3-0 deficit but fell just short in a 5-4 loss to 11th-ranked Cal Lutheran in the opening round of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. The Blue Jays (1-1) will face 12th-ranked NC Wesleyan (2-2) in the consolation semifinals Saturday morning.

The Kingsmen got off to a big lead by sweeping the three doubles matches. Nicholas Ballou and Ray Worley IV beat sophomores Tanner Brown and Erik Lim, 8-2, at first doubles to put Cal Lutheran up early. Thomas Millet and Marcelo Sousa followed with an 8-6 win over sophomore Ben Hwang and freshman Chris Jou, at third. Alex Nichols and Connor Treacy then closed out doubles play with an 8-4 win at second over seniors Andy Hersh and Jeff Kamei.

Ballou, who advanced to the NCAA Singles Championship in May, was the first to finish in singles, as he beat Hersh 6-4, 6-2 to give Cal Lutheran a 4-0 win. Brown got a point for Hopkins with a 6-3, 6-3 win at second over Worley. Hwang then pulled the Blue Jays within two as he won in three over Nichols at three. Hwang won the first set 6-4, but Nichols would take the second by the same score to force a deciding set. Hwang would prevail, also by a 6-4 score, to keep Hopkins in the match. Lim made it a 4-3 match with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win at fifth over Millet. But Treacy then clinched the match for the Kingsmen with a 6-4, 6-3 win over sophomore Jensen Reiter at fourth. Sophomore Noah Joachim closed out the match at sixth with a 6-3, 6-7, 10-4 win over Sousa.

Hopkins and NC Wesleyan will face off at 8:30 am on Saturday, February 23 in the consolation semifinals. NC Wesleyan lost 8-1 to second-ranked Kenyon on Friday. Live stats are available here.