No. 9 Tartans Earn Third-Place Finish at UAA Championship

(ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.) - The ninth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University men's tennis team topped fifth-ranked University of Chicago, 5-4, to take third place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship on Saturday, April 23. The Tartans move to 16-6 on the year while the Maroons fall to 15-5.

The Tartans had to come-from-behind when Chicago held a 2-1 advantage following doubles play. The Tartans point came from freshman tandem Vayum Arora (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose) and Daniel Levine (Highland Park, Ill./Boca Prep International School), who won 8-6 at first doubles.

With Chicago leading 3-1, senior Abhishek Alla (Hyderabad, India/IMG Pendleton School) earned a victory at first singles, 6-3, 6-2 as the Tartans won set one on three other courts.

Freshman Chaz Downing (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) then evened the match score at 3-3 with a 6-4, 6-4 win at third singles. Arora was next to finish after he pulled out a gritty 7-5 win in his first set and followed it with a 6-2 second-set win at fifth singles to give the Tartans a 4-3 lead.

As Chicago won at fourth singles, Levine finished his second singles match in three sets, winning the fifth and final point, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

The Tartans' third-place finish in arguably the nation's top men's tennis conference, as five teams are ranked in the top 10, almost assures the Tartans' place in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament will begin on campus sites on May 12-15 with bids for the tournament released in May.