
Washington Falls In First Round Of NCAA Championships
May 12, 2017 | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas – The 2017 season has come to an end for the Washington men's tennis team, falling in the first round of the NCAA Championships today to Tulane 4-2 at the Caswell Tennis Center.
"I have total mixed feelings on everything," said head coach Matt Anger. "I think our team is very capable of doing better and yet we had some things happen during the year that are just tough. Everybody has them. In the end, it was a good effort for us and we were just happy to be here."
Doubles began close on each court, with the Huskies claiming the first match of the day on court two, as Enzo Sommer and Kawika Lam won 6-4. Tulane drew the doubles even with a 6-4 win on court three, as it came down to court one. Trailing 3-5, Jake Douglas and Piers Foley won three straight games to bring the score to 6-5, but ultimately fell in a tough tie-break 7-2, giving Tulane an early 1-0 lead.
In singles, freshman Amit Batta claimed the first set to finish, winning 6-2 over Tyler Schick on court five. The Los Altos, Calif. native would go on to win his 18th match, putting the Dawgs on the board with a 6-2, 6-3 win. On court four, Sommer gave the Huskies the lead 2-1 over the Green Wave, winning his match 7-5, 6-4.
"We spent the last week and a half just getting ready to play better and do better, which we did," said Anger. "But we were just short."
Tulane would fight back however, and claim the lead from Washington, winning on court six and three to go up 3-2. Down to the matches on courts one and two, Mitch Stewart forced a third set with a 6-1 win in the second, as Douglas did the same with a huge 7-4 tie-break win in his second set. On court two, Stewart was unable to come out on top of a tough third set, with Ewan Moore winning two consecutive games to win 7-5 in the third set and clinch the victory for Tulane.
The 2017 season comes to a close for the Huskies, as they now look forward to next year, where they look to return eight of their 10 student-athletes on their current roster.
"I would have loved if we could have survived a couple of days or another week, then I think we could still be playing better," said Anger. "But that's what makes the NCAA's exciting, it's how you're doing today and you only get so many chances. We're looking forward to next year."
You can keep up with the team during the offseason by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and be sure to check in on our website at GoHuskies.com for the latest news on the Dawgs.
RESULTS
No. 49 Washington – 2
No. 29 Tulane – 4
Doubles
1 – Jao/Rey (Tulane) def. Douglas/Foley (UW) 7-6 (7-2)
2 – Lam/Sommer (UW) def. Moore/Schick (Tulane) 6-4
3 – Erlenbusch/Schmitz (Tulane) def. Batta/Watanabe (UW) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1 – Jake Douglas (UW) vs. No. 18 Constantin Schmitz (Tulane) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 2-3 (DNF)
2 – Ewan Moore (Tulane) def. No. 100 Mitch Stewart (UW) 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-5
3 – No. 117 Sebastian Rey (Tulane) def. Gal Hakak (UW) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
4 – Enzo Sommer (UW) def. Luis Erlenbusch (Tulane) 7-5, 6-4
5 – Amit Batta (UW) def. Tyler Schick (Tulane) 6-2, 6-3
6 – Chi-Shan Jao (Tulane) def. Piers Foley (UW) 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 4, 6, 3, 2