Men’s tennis takes home fourth place
The Carnegie Mellon men’s tennis team travelled down to Altamonte Springs, Fla., to compete in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships. This is the first year that the men’s and women’s UAAs have been hosted at this venue.
The No. 13-ranked Tartans had a slow start on Thursday morning, facing New York University. The men took the lead 2–1 after doubles. Wins came from the No. 2 team of junior Jooho Yu and first-year Thomas Cooper 8–4, and the No 3. first-year duo of Christian Heaney-Secord and Bryce Beisswanger 8–3. The Tartans’ No. 1 team of junior Duke Miller and first-year William Duncan lost in a tiebreaker 9–8 (7–3).
In single’s play, the matches were even tighter. Cooper was the first win for the Tartans at No. 5 with scores of 6–0, 6–1. The next singles victory was from Miller at No. 1, winning his three set battle 7–6 (7–1), 3–6, 6–1. With the match tied at 4–4, Yu was the only player left to compete. Yu won the match for the Tartans 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, helping move Carnegie Mellon on to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, the Tartans faced the No. 17-ranked Washington University in St. Louis. The Tartans lost this match in a closely competed game, 5–4.
The Tartans jumped out of the gates, leading 3–0 after doubles. Duncan and Miller won at No. 1 doubles, 8–4. The No. 2 doubles tandem of Cooper and Yu were next off the court with an 8–4 victory. Rounding out the doubles was the Tartans’ No. 3 team of Beisswanger and Heaney-Secord, with a tiebreaker win 9–8 (10–8).
However, the Tartans struggled in singles play. Cooper was the only Tartan to pull out a win at No. 5 singles, with a score of 6–3, 6–2.
In the third place match, the Tartans faced Case Western Reserve University. The Tartans took home the fourth place trophy with a 6–3 loss to Case Western.
“It was a tough loss. I feel mostly for our captain. We really wanted to give him a chance to come out and compete at NCAAs,” Heaney-Secord said.
The Tartans took a 2–1 lead after doubles with a win from the No. 2 team of Cooper and Yu by a score of 8–6. The other doubles point came from the tiebreaker victory by the No. 1 team of Duncan and Miller, winning 9–8 (7–4).
Again, the Tartans were only able to win one other match. Duncan won at No. 3 singles 6–3, 6–4.
“The guys battled hard like they have all season. We had the best doubles in the tournament and the losses weren’t due to lack of heart. Thomas Cooper was a beast,” said volunteer assistant coach Jonathan Spero.