ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #3-ranked Tufts University men's tennis team shut out the Goucher College Gophers 5-0 on Saturday in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship second round at the U.S. Naval Academy's Tose Family Tennis Center.
With the win, Tufts advances to the NCAA Regional Final where they will face off against North Carolina Wesleyan College at 1 pm on Sunday. The Battling Bishops eliminated host Johns Hopkins in second round today 5-4.
The Jumbos (18-2), in their first NCAA appearance since 2004, swept doubles play with three 8-0 shutout victories against Goucher. The team of Josh Belandres and Rishabh Sharda defeated Omosesan Adebamgbe and Brian Kane in the #1 doubles match, while Isaac Gorelik and Paris Pentousis picked up an 8-0 victory over Jackson Beam and Calis Nguyen in the #2 doubles match. In the third doubles spot, Derin Acaroglu and Niko Hereford completed the doubles sweep with an 8-0 win over Angel Carpa and Joshua Noel.
With just two singles victories needed to advance to the NCAA Regional Final, Tufts' Sharda and Pentousis both won big in their matches to clinch the victory over the Gophers (13-8) from the Landmark Conference. Sharda defeated Adebamgbe 6-1, 6-0 in the #2 singles match and Pentousis earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over Noel in the fourth spot.
The four remaining singles matches went unfinished as Tufts had already won the match, but Gorelik, Vuk Vuksanovic and Acaroglu all had leads at the time of the Jumbos' victory.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
