Men's Tennis Falls to MIT in NCAA Tournament

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Bridgewater State University dropped a 5-0 decision to #25 MIT in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Nelson Recreation Center on the campus of Middlebury College.

The Bears end the season with an overall record of 9-5. The Engineers (19-3) advance to the second round and will take on #10 Trinity University (Texas) on Saturday at 2:00 PM.

The match started outside at the Proctor Tennis Courts. However, about five minutes in, play was suspended due to rain. The match then resumed inside, roughly 40 minutes later, at the Nelson Recreation Center.

MIT led 3-0 after doubles play as the Engineers swept all three matches. Joseph Li (Naperville, Ill.) and Sundeep Chakladar (Redondo Beach, Calif.) teamed up for an 8-1 win at the top spot, while Shrish Choudhary (Fremont, Calif.) and Siddharth Marathe (Pune, India) posted an 8-0 result at number three. Kailas Kahler (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Adam Sun (Glendale, Ariz.) earned the final doubles point at the second flight with an 8-0 decision.

Ryan Xiao (Cary, N.C.) notched a 6-0, 6-1 straight set win at number three singles to give MIT a 4-0 lead. Daniel Papacica (Carmel, Calif.) then secured the decisive fifth point with a 6-1, 6-1 straight set triumph at the second flight to send the Engineers to the second round.

MIT was also up a set at first and fourth singles when the match ended. Due to the match being moved inside with only four courts, the fifth and sixth flight singles matches were not contested.

The closest match of the day was at the top singles flight as Kahler led BSU's Robby Cooney (Plymouth, Mass.), 6-3, 3-0.