The Hopkins men’s tennis team took fourth place at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship this past weekend in St. Peter, Minn. The No. 7 Blue Jays lost to the second-seeded No. 5 Washington University Bears, 6-3.
The Jays won their first point when the third doubles team of junior Nicholas Garcia and senior Noah Joachim defeated Washington University’s junior Josh Cogan and senior Parker Chang, 8-6. Joachim attributed the victory to the pair’s experience playing together and strong mental game.
“[Garcia and I’ve] played together for more than two years now and really understand each other’s games,” Joachim said. “I felt as though I fought hard and was mentally strong.”
He also attributed the victory to the duo’s “big serves,” which he felt helped them significantly when playing indoors.
Despite the early lead, the Bears evened the match after senior Kevin Chu and freshman Jason Haugen beat Hopkins seniors Erik Lim and Tanner Brown, 9-7. Washington University then took a 2-1 lead after sophomore Jeremy Bush and senior Ross Putterman beat Hopkins sophomores Mike Buxbaum and Emerson Walsh, 10-8.
After a loss at doubles, Buxbaum evened the match after winning 6-1, 6-1 at first singles against sophomore John Carswell. Washington University gained the lead again when Putterman defeated sophomore Jeremy Dubin at second singles, 7-6, 6-4. Hopkins tied the match once again when senior Ben Hwang gained the lead and won at third singles. The back-and-forth lead changes continued when Joachim lost at fourth singles, 6-3, 6-3. Washington University cemented the lead when the Bears’ Johnny Wu defeated senior Erik Lim, 6-2, 6-2. They closed out the victory when Chu defeated Walsh at sixth singles, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.
“We did as well as we were supposed to do coming into the tournament as the fourth seed. That said, we felt as though we could have gone further,” Joachim said. “We played amongst the other top teams in the country so we now have a clear sense of our competition and what it will take to bring home a national title.”
According to Joachim, the Jays believed their weekend was a good indicator of where they stood.
“We all have a few technical things we need to work on,” Joachim said.
The Jays return to action on Sunday, March 1 as they travel to Lexington, Va, to take on the Washington and Lee University Generals.
