Feb. 22, 2014

Box Score

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, OH - The 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's tennis team will play in the championship game of the 2014 ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time in four trips to the tournament. Hopkins rallied from an early 2-1 deficit to defeat host and 13th-ranked Case Western, 6-3, in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improve to 2-1 with the win while the Spartans fall to 2-1.

Case Western took a 2-1 lead after three thrilling and hard fought doubles matches, that saw two go to tiebreakers. Sophomore Nicholas Garcia and junior Noah Joachim took the first point of the match as they beat Derek Reinbold and James Fojtasek, 9-7, at third. Christopher Krimbill and Eric Klawitter then tied the match with a 9-8 (3) win at first over freshmen Michael Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh. Will Drougas and John Healey the wrapped up doubles and gave the Spartans the 2-1 lead after beating juniors Tanner Brown and Erik Lim, 9-8 (4) at second.

The Blue Jays responded in singles play, winning five of the six matches, to take the win and advance to the finals. Junior Sam Weissler quickly tied the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Louis Stuerke at sixth singles. Freshman Jeremy Dubin, who clinched yesterday's win over Emory, gave Hopkins a 3-2 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Fojtasek at fourth. Junior Ben Hwang pushed the Blue Jays' one point closer to victory after beating Klawitter 6-4, 6-2 at third. Lim then clinched the win and the berth in the finals as he rallied to defeat Reinbold at fifth. Reinbold won the first set 6-1, but Lim responded with a 7-6 (5) win in the second to force a third, which he won 6-2. Buxbaum closed out the match at first, where he beat Krimbill 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1.

Hopkins will face top-seeded and fourth-ranked Washington University in the finals. The match is scheduled to start at 8:00 am.