RESULTS
SAINT PETER, Minn. – Sunday's ITA Indoor Championship match between No. 2 Kenyon College and No. 1 Emory University came down to the final singles flight to determine a winner. The Lords' C.J. Williams fought back from a point away from elimination to overtake his opponent and take the fifth and match-clinching point to award Kenyon the men's indoor tournament championship.
With the match sitting in a 4-4 draw heading into the final singles flight, Williams (10-2) dropped the first of three sets to Emory's Elliot Kahler, 7-5, before storming back to a 6-3 second-set victory. In the tie-breaking third set, Williams took an early lead and held on to a 5-4 advantage. Kahler took the next two points, but Williams returned fire to tie the match, 6-6. He took the next point, too, and sealed the deal for the Lords.
The win over No. 1 Emory (5-2) improved the Lords' record to 5-1 overall and avenged a couple of losses to the Eagles last season. It not only brought a tournament championship to Gambier, but also snapped a 12-match streak of losses to Emory in head-to-head competition.
After doubles play concluded, Emory held a slim 2-1 lead. The duo of Kevin Ye and Wade Heerboth began the day's play with an 8-3 victory over Jackson Isaacs and Will Adams in the No. 3 doubles match before the Eagles rebounded with back-to-back wins.
Michael Razumovsky evened the score with a 6-2, 6-2 individual win to start singles play. Heerboth gave Kenyon its first team lead, 3-2, by clipping Ian Wagner in the No. 3 singles matchup 6-3, 7-6.
The Eagles continued to fight back into the match stealing wins in the top and the fifth singles flight to retake a 4-3 lead. Kevin Ye tied the match with a shutout victory over Nicholas Szczurek (6-0, 6-0) before Williams stole the show with his one-on-one showdown for tournament supremacy.
Kenyon will now have a nice-sized layoff before returning to the courts for doubleheader action on March 11. The Lords will participate in head-to-head matchups with Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) and Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) in Azusa, California.
