CLAREMONT, CA – Johns Hopkins opened the day with a 4-2 win over 14
th-ranked Trinity (TX) and then fell to second-ranked Chicago, 4-0, at the Stag-Hen Invitational. The Blue Jays are now 6-4 on the season with eight of the 10 matches coming against opponents ranked in the top-16.
The Blue Jays and the Tigers played the doubles matches on Friday night and Trinity came out on top after a pair of marathon matches at one and two. Aashish Dhanani and Conor Kaczmarczyk grabbed a 6-2 win over
Dylan Blenkiron and
Brian Yi at three.
Mukundh Boopathi and
Pranav Gadiraju pulled out a 7-6 (6) win over Ethan Flores and Roshin Kamath, ranked eighth in the nation, at two. Then in a battle of top-25 teams, it was Trinity's Kishan Kersten and Jared Perry edging
Allen Gong and
Chakor Rajendra 7-6 (9) at one to take the doubles' point.
The match resumed with singles on Saturday morning. Blenkiron quickly evened the score at one when he beat Dhanani 6-1, 6-3 at three singles. Rajendra then gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Perry, ranked 20
th in the nation. Ryan Warren, ranked 30
th, answered with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at four versus Boopathi and the teams were tied at two. Gong grabbed the lead back for Hopkins with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Kersten, ranked 16
th, at one. And as he's done so often this Spring,
Joshua Kim clinched the win. He lost his first set, but rallied to beat Kamath 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 at six.
Jason Li and Kaczmarczyk's match at five went unfinished with Li up 3-2 in the third set.
Hopkins then faced off against Chicago for the second time in three weeks. The Maroons took the doubles' point with a pair of 6-1 wins at two and three doubles. Gong and Rajendra picked up a win for the Blue Jays at one, beating 18
th-ranked Alexander Ekstrand and Markus Ekstrand, 6-1.
Christian Liew, ranked 35
th, gave Chicago a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Boopathi at four singles. Kane Kelley followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kim at six and Alexander Ekstrand clinched the win with a three-setter over Blenkiron at two, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. The remaining singles matches went unfinished.
Hopkins returns to action on Friday, March 27 as the Blue Jays host the Mary Washington Eagles. The match is scheduled for a 4:00 pm start.
Notes: Gong is now tied for 14
th in JHU history with 51 career singles wins and tied for 15
th with 106 total wins • Rajendra is now 21
st with 93 career wins and needs seven to become the 20
th player in program history with 100 wins.
