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#13 Johns Hopkins Downs TCNJ 5-0 to Advance to NCAA Sweet 16
May 9, 2009
AMHERST, MA - The 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's tennis team blanked The College of New Jersey, 5-0 on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16. Just over a year after losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to the Lions in the second round, the Blue Jays end the Lions season at 11-3. Hopkins improves to 16-3 on the season as JHU ties the program record with its 15th straight win. The Blue Jays are making their second appearance in the last three years in the Sweet 16. Freshman Jacob Barnaby (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) and sophomore Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) won their 10th straight match and improve to 19-3 on the season with their win at second doubles. The pair picked up an 8-3 win over Steve Fernandez and Jonathan Yu to give Hopkins an early 1-0 lead. Junior David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho) and sophomore Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) made it 2-0 with their 8-3 win at first over Jeremy Eckardt and Stewart Fernandez for their ninth straight win. The match at third doubles was the thriller as Bill Carrig and Dan Lee appeared to be on their way to a win for the Lions. But freshman Warren Elgort (New York, NY/Trinity School) and sophomore Ryan Rauck (Columbus, OH/Bexley), who rallied in the Centennial Conference title match, had another one in them. Elgort and Rauck rallied from a 5-1 deficit to force a 6-6 tie. The match would be tied at 7-7 and 8-8 to force a tiebreaker. Carrig and Lee won the first three points in the breaker, but Elgort and Rauck took six of the next seven points en route to the 9-8 (7-5) win. Elgort quickly pushed Hopkins lead to 4-0 in the match, dropping just one game in his win at third singles. He beat Yu 6-1, 6-0 to improve to 18-7 on the season. Blythe then clinched the match for Hopkins with a 6-2, 6-0 win at fifth over Edgar Shanoyan. The win was his 10th of the season and sixth straight.
Hopkins will take on #6 Amherst with a trip to Claremont, CA and the NCAA Quarterfinals on the line. The two will meet at 12:00 pm on Sunday, May 10 at Amherst. It will be a rematch as the Blue Jays and the Lord Jeffs squared off October 11 in Baltimore. Amherst came out on top in that meeting, 6-3. |
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