Wilkes Men's Tennis Advances to Semifinals in Doubles and Singles
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The Wilkes University men's tennis team began day one action at the ITA Regionals on Friday. The doubles team of Chris Maderitz (York, PA/Central York) and Braddock Chow (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) advanced to the semifinals for the first time in Wilkes men's tennis history.
The duo started their day in the round of 16 in Flight A against #1 seeded Ly/McDermott (Stevenson University). In the eight-game pro-set format, Wilkes held an early 3-2 advantage. After pushing the lead to 6-5, Stevenson stormed back to take the next two games and cut the deficit to 6-5. Maderitz/Chow then found themselves in a 40-0 hole in the next game before battling all the way back to steal the game and give themselves a crucial 7-5 lead. The Colonels closed out the match in the next game to secure an 8-5 victory.
The quarterfinals match had Wilkes squaring off against Gordon/Roberts (Bridgewater College). This was a back and forth affair early on as Bridgewater took a 2-1 lead before Wilkes came right back to take a 3-2 advantage. The Eagles would bounce back to take three of the next four games and give themselves a 5-4 lead. Maderitz/Chow would counter with a run of their own by taking the next four games and closing out Bridgewater 8-5 to advance to the semifinals tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. versus Haverford College.
In the top doubles Championship bracket, Courtney Murphy (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus) and Jonathan White (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley) faced off against Pawlek/Secord (Bridgewater College). The match got off to a poor start for Wilkes as their serve was broken in the first game to fall behind 1-0. The duo would fight back and win a long-fought game to pull within one at 4-3. Unfortunately, the Eagles remained unfazed as they won the next four games to eliminate Murphy/White 8-3.
In other doubles action, Andrew MacDonald (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland Regional) and Larry Scartz (Woodbridge, VA/Home School) dropped their Flight B doubles opener to Muhlenberg College 8-2. After the match was tightly contest early on at 2-2, Muhlenberg won six straight games on their way to advancing to the next round.
As the afternoon turned to singles action, White's struggles continued as he fell to Devan Geib (Swarthmore) 4-6, 0-6. The first set was back and forth early on with White holding a 4-3 lead. Geib would rally to take the set before cruising through set two to eliminate White from Flight A action.
In the top singles Championship bracket, Murphy dispatched Tapp (Washington & Lee) 6-0, 6-0 in the round of 64. Wilkes #1 men's player would then defeat Mason Kolls (Christopher Newport) 6-3, 6-4 to advance to Saturday's round of 16.
The other Colonels singles player to take the court on Friday afternoon was Maderitz. He made quick work of Frack (Shenandoah) 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Flight C bracket. Maderitz then won a marathon match against DeFaber-Schumacher (Ursinus) 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2 to advance to Saturday's semifinals. With the victory, Maderitz secured four wins on Friday as he was undefeated in both doubles and singles.
Wilkes returns to the courts at 8 a.m. on Saturday when Maderitz/Chow take on a duo from Haverford College in the Flight A doubles semifinals.
