Three Eagles from the Emory men’s tennis team, sophomore Andrew Esses and Antonio Mora and junior Will Wanner, competed for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College (Ga.) between Oct. 17 and 20. The ITA Cup is the final tournament of the fall season and featured singles and doubles competitors from 24 schools.
In singles, Esses found himself up against a formidable foe and last year’s nationals champion Tufts University’s (Mass.) junior Boris Sorkin in his opening match.
“Not the best way to start the bracket, but there’s nothing I can do except give it my all in every match,” Esses said of the matchup.
Undeterred by his first loss to Sorkin at 0-2, Esses put up a valiant fight to beat The College of New Jersey’s sophomore Matthew Michibata with a 2-0 score and George Fox University’s (Ore.) Will Leach with another 2-0 victory. The two wins made him one of the winners of the West bracket and landed him in the Top-10 for the tournament overall.
Mora opened singles for the Emory tennis team against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges’ (Calif.) junior Jack Katzman on Thursday, losing the first match 0-2. The championship functioned as a compass elimination, which sent losers to a set of competing brackets. After Mora’s loss, he was sent to the West bracket to compete against Trinity University (Texas) junior Cameron Krimbill. Putting up a tough three rounds, Mora lost to Krimbill 1-2 and went to the South bracket to face first-seeded junior Leo Vithoontien from Carleton College (Minn.). Mora won 2-1, adding him to the list of the South bracket winners.
In doubles, Mora and Wanner defeated a team from Hobart and William Smith Colleges (N.Y.) 2-0 in the first round before defeating a fourth-seeded duo from Salisbury University (Md.) 2-1. Mora and Wanner made it to the third round in doubles teams, only to be defeated by Redlands Community College (Okla.) 1-2 in an arduous three matches.
The Emory men’s tennis team will return in the Spring to compete at the ITA National Indoor Champions in Cleveland on Feb. 21.
