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ST. PETER, MN - In a tightly contested match, seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins topped eighth-ranked Case Western, 6-3, in the opening round of the 2015 ITA National Indoor Team Championship Friday night. The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead after doubles and then won the final three singles matches, all in three sets, to get the win.

Case took the first point of the match as Christopher Krimbill and Louis Stuerke beat sophomores Mike Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh, 8-3, at first doubles. Hopkins pulled even at second when seniors Tanner Brown and Erik Lim earned an 8-5 win over Will Drougas and Andrew Komarov, 8-5. The Blue Jays then took the momentum and a 2-1 lead into singles play as junior Nicholas Garcia and senior Noah Joachim defeated Tytus Chen and Kevin Don, 8-4, at third.

The Spartans grabbed the first singles point to tie the match at two-all after Krimbill beat Buxbaum 6-3, 6-2 at first. Sophomore Jeremy Dubin put the Blue Jays back on top with a 7-5, 6-2 win at second over Drougas. But once again Case answered and tied the match at three as Viswajit Simhadri beat senior Ben Hwang 6-1, 6-3 at third. Joachim gave Hopkins a 4-3 lead as he rallied at fourth to win in three sets. Stuerke took the first set, 6-2, but Joachim responded with a 7-6 win in the second and then took the third by a 6-2 score.

Lim followed with a three-set win at fifth to clinch the win. Joshua Dughi won the first set, 6-1, but Lim answered with a 6-1 win in the second and then 6-4 in the third. Brown then closed out the win with another three-setter at sixth. Dong grabbed the first set, 6-4, but Brown countered with a 6-4 win in the second. He then took the third set, 6-3, to end the match.

Hopkins returns to the court on Saturday as the Blue Jays take on the top-seeded and third-ranked Trinity (TX) Tigers in the semifinals. The match is slated for a 2:00 pm CT start at the Swanson Tennis Center. Fans can follow all the action with live stats and video here: https://gustavus.edu/athletics/mt/ITA/2015/results.php