Andrienko, Hagermoser, Svenning Star in Singles; Doehler Returns to Action as Elis Edge UMBC 4-3

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team improved its current win streak to three matches on Friday, beating Maryland-Baltimore County at home in what can only be described as the most fiercely contested match of the season. Although UMBC came into Friday's match with a 1-5 record, the Retrievers had nearly notched victories against some of the nation's elite teams, and were hungry to prove themselves against a relatively unfamiliar regional opponent. Despite the determination on the opposite side of the net, the Elis managed to play some of their best team tennis of the season on Friday, with five different players contributing points in a clutch 4-3 victory for Yale. In both doubles and singles, the Bulldogs submitted a masterful performance that was bolstered by sophomore Stefan Doehler's return to the singles lineup after months of injury issues.

As usual, the Bulldogs kicked off the action on Friday with doubles competition. Perhaps buoyed with confidence by last weekend's back-to-back victories, Yale stormed out of the gate early and made an immediate statement in doubles. In less than an hour, Yale's No. 3 pairing of Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser downed UMBC's Biyik Akinshemoyin and Kevin Hsieh by a score of 6-1; Fedor Andrienko and Doehler then wrapped up the doubles point with a decisive 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles. The 2014-15 All-Ivy duo Andrienko and Doehler face high expectations in their sophomore campaign, and Friday's win (just their first of the season) will go a long way toward raising their confidence going forward. 

Heading into the singles round with a one point lead, the Bulldogs soon found out that the Retrievers were much tougher than they looked in doubles. While Andrienko and Martin Svenning secured comfortable straight-set victories at No. 6 and No. 2 singles, respectively, Doehler faced a tough challenge at the No. 5 position, falling to UMBC's Akinshemoyin 6-2, 6-4. Both Andrienko and Svenning have won three of their last five matches, and look to have improved significantly since the start of the season.

When all three remaining singles matches headed into a tight third set, however, a Yale victory looked to be in serious question. Ultimately it was Hagermoser who saved the day and clinched victory for the Bulldogs, using his crushing serve and groundstrokes to wear down UMBC's Alex Drean in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win; this result was just the latest highlight of the season for the Yale junior, who has amassed a 13-4 singles record and solidified his spot near the top of the lineup. Yale's Ziqi Wang also submitted an impressive performance at No. 1 singles, pushing the Retrievers' Justin Carter in a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 loss. Freshman Nathan Brown also stepped up in the No. 4 singles position and performed admirably, taking the first set of his match 6-4 before dropping the next two by just a single service break.

After notching an impressive victory on Friday, the Bulldogs' overall record (3-2) has moved above .500 for the first time this season; and after a tough start to the dual match season, team confidence appears to be at an all-time high. Yale will look to improve its win streak to four matches this Sunday, when the squad will face Army away at West Point.

Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity