No. 9 Tartans Place Seventh at ITA National Team Indoor Championship

(ST. PETER, Minn.) - In its second match of the day at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis team defeated host Gustavus Adolphus College, ranked 14th in the nation, by a 5-4 score to place seventh at the tournament. Singles play was the difference as the Tartans move to 4-4 on the year.

For the third match of the tournament, the Tartans found themselves down 2-1 after doubles play. Winning for the second time in three matches was the No. 2 doubles pair of senior Bryce Beisswanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint School) and junior Yuvraj Kumar (New Delhi, India/Millfield School). The pair defeated Mohanad Al-Houni and Brad Entwistle, 8-1.

Sophomore Kunal Wadwani (Saratoga, Calif./Ballarmine College Prep) tied the match at 2-2 with his 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles against Zach Ekstein. Next to finish was senior Christian Heaney-Secord (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) at second singles, as he won 6-3, 6-4.

Junior Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) rebounded from a first-set loss to put the Tartans ahead 4-2 with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles.

Winning the match point for the Tartans was freshman Tommy Cheng (Cupertino, Calif./Cupertino) at No. 6 singles. His score of 6-3, 6-4 topped T. Connor Shives.

The Tartans participation in the national tournament marks the third time in program history and first since the 2010-2011 season.

Next up for the Tartans is their spring break tour in Claremont, California. Carnegie Mellon will start the swing of five matches in six days on Sunday, March 8 against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 10:00 a.m. PT.