Ephs to face Claremont-McKenna in NCAA Tennis Quarterfinals at Bates College

Bates College (Lewiston, Maine) is hosting the eight men's tennis quarterfinalists in NCAA team play May 13-15. Claremont-McKenna College (24-7), Williams College (17-3), Washington University (18-4), Gustavus Adolphus (30-5), Emory University (17-6), Kenyon College (25-1), Middlebury College (17-5) and the University of Mary Washington (22-6) have all advanced.

This is the 12th consecutive year that the Ephs have advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and the first time under rookie head coach Dave Donn.

The quarterfinal round will begin on Tuesday, May 13 at 9 a.m. The semifinals will be contested on Wednesday, May 14, with the championship and third-place matches taking place on Thursday, May 15.

Quarterfinal matchups will pit Emory against Kenyon at 9 a.m., Middlebury against Mary Washington at 12 noon, Claremont-McKenna against Williams at 3 p.m., and Washington against Gustavus Adolphus at 6 p.m.

The Ephs are 3-0 against teams in the final eight having defeated Claremont (7-2), Washington Univ. (6-3) and Middlebury (5-4), but Donn is only concerned about one team – his Ephs. "We played really well at The College of New Jersey to get here and now we have to go out and continue to play our best," said Donn. "I'm not looking ahead, I'm only looking at how we play. We're good enough to beat anyone, but if we do not play well we will be on our way home."

Back on March 29th in San Antonio, Texas the Ephs swept the doubles play and got singles wins from Nick Lebedoff (2), Gary Simonette (3) Karol Furmaga (5) and Rick Devlin (6) to win.

Claremont-McKenna is currently ranked second nationally and earned a trip to Lewiston by downing top ranked UC Santa Cruz. The Ephs are currently ranked eighth nationally.

Wednesday's semifinals will pit the winner of Emory/Kenyon vs. the winner of Middlebury/UMW at 10 a.m., followed by the second semifinal at 2 p.m.

Thursday's third-place match starts at 10 a.m., with the championship match set to begin at 2 p.m.

Following the team championships the NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournaments will begin on May 16th and conclude on May 18th.

The individual championships shall consist of 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams.  The selection of teams and individuals for the championships is based on won-lost record, strength of schedule and eligibility and availability of student-athletes.

Singles and doubles competition begins Friday, May 16 and concludes Sunday, May 18. Senior Dan Greenberg is entered in singles play and doubles play. In doubles, Greenberg will be paired with junior Bret Thacher. Greenberg is ranked third nationally.