CLAREMONT, Calif.
The Bowdoin College men’s tennis team advanced to the Division III national title match for the second time in the last three years following a 5-0 win over Chicago in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship on Tuesday afternoon.
The Polar Bears (23-1) will face the only team to have beaten them this season — the Middlebury College Panthers (24-4) — in the championship match today at 2 p.m.
The match will be carried live at GoUBears.com.
Chicago ended its season with a record of 19-5.
For the second straight day, an impressive showing in doubles action gave the Polar Bears a commanding lead heading into singles play. Gil Roddy and Larry Zhao got Bowdoin on the board with an 8-2 win at No. 3 before Grant Urken/Luke Tercek earned a win at No. 1 doubles (8-4) to double the Polar Bear lead. Kyle Wolfe/Jerry Jiang pulled away late, breaking serve to clinch an 8-6 win over Tyler Raclin and Jeremy Yuan and give Bowdoin a 3-0 advantage.
Wolfe rolled in singles play, claiming a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles to put Bowdoin on the brink of victory.
With several matches seemingly destined for three sets, Roddy broke a late serve in the second set and earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over David Liu at No. 5 to vault Bowdoin over the top.
Today’s match will be a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Championship, won by Bowdoin, 5-0, in the program’s lone national title. It will also be the third meeting of the squads this season. Middlebury earned an 8-1 win in the regular season on April 14 before Bowdoin claimed the NESCAC Championship with a 5-3 win on May 6.
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