Earlham College Repeats as HCAC Men’s Tennis Champions
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Earlham College's men's tennis team claimed the school's second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference team championship on Sunday afternoon. The Quakers finished in first place during the regular season with a perfect 9-0 mark and claimed the tournament title at West Indy Racquet Club in Indianapolis.
Earlham posted a win over Rose-Hulman before knocking off No. 2 seed Transylvania in the championship.
In Sunday's championship match with Transy, the Quakers held on for a 5-2 victory. Earlham fell behind 2-1 after doubles action and proceeded to win four singles matches to put the match away.
EC's Andrey Gavrilov (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Brad Maisey (Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand) knocked off Tyler Pewitt (Frankfort, Ky.) and Jett Glass (Paris, Ky.) of Transylvania at No. 2 doubles 8-2.
In singles play, Earlham earned wins at No. 3,4, 5 and 6 singles to put the match out of reach. Gavrilov earned a win at No. 3 singles over Pewitt 6-0, 6-0 and Maisey knocked off Jordan Evans (Paris, Ky.) at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Scott Lawrence (Letchworth, England) posted a victory at No. 5 singles over Glass of Transy 6-1, 6-2 and the match was clinched at No. 6 singles as David Bluestein (Durham, N.H.) earned a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Kim Pescher (Krefeld, Germany).
The two Transylvania victories came from the No. 1 and 3 doubles positions. Will Palmer (Lexington, Ky.) and Keith Henderson (Lexington, Ky.) earned a tough win at No. 1 doubles over Hank Levin (Dallas, Tex.) and Anton Bartashevich (Moscow, Russia) 8-5, while Evans and Pescher posted an 8-5 win over Lawrence and Nabil Parkar (London, England) at No. 3 doubles.
With claiming the conference title, Earlham has earned the conference's automatic bid to play in the NCAA Division III tennis championships beginning May 11. It will be the school's second appearance in the Division III NCAA tennis tournament.
Earlham College Head Coach Adam Van Zee
Tournament Results
Saturday, May 5
Opening Round
Game 1: No. 4 Rose-Hulman vs. No. 5 Anderson
Rose-Hulman, 5-0
Game 2: No. 3 Franklin vs. No. 6 Hanover
Franklin, 5-2
Semifinals
Game 3: No. 1 Earlham vs. No. 4 Rose-Hulman
Earlham, 5-0
Game 4: No. 2 Transylvania vs. No. 3 Franklin
Transylvania, 5-3
Sunday, May 6
Championship
Earlham vs. Transylvania
Earlham, 5-2
