No. 3 Delaware Defeats No. 6 Drexel 4-1 to Advance to CAA Semifinals

Friday, April 22

Elon, N.C.

2 p.m.

University of Delaware

#6 Drexel

Guilherme Valdoleiros vs. Drexel (CAA QF)

Photo by: Jacob Kisamore

No. 3 Delaware Defeats No. 6 Drexel 4-1 to Advance to CAA Semifinals

4/22/2022 5:36:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

ELON, N.C. – The third-seeded University of Delaware men's tennis team defeated No. 6 Drexel 4-1 in a slugfest on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2022 CAA Men's Tennis Championships at Elon's Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. With the win, the Blue Hens advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history. Delaware has now won 10-consecutive matches and sits at 15-8 on the season.

"We were consistent today and stayed the course," said Director of Tennis Pablo Montana. "We played this team last week and it's always a mental battle to play the same team back to back, but our guys believed in themselves and trusted the process. We knew we had the edge going into today's match and I told our guys there's no need to panic if we go down a break or go down a set. It was an absolute dog fight until the end and we were able to outlast them in the end. We will continue to believe in ourselves and use this confidence as we gear up for UNCW tomorrow."

The Blue Hens continued their strong doubles play as of late as they took two of the three matches to take the doubles point. The duo of Alexandre Gluck and Liam Hedlund claimed a 6-3 win at the No. 3 position to give UD the advantage. Right after Drexel evened things up with a 6-2 win at No. 1, the team of Guilherme Valdoleiros and Pascal Wagemaker won a 6-2 decision at No. 2 to clinch the point and give Delaware a 1-0 lead.

Singles play did not start out in UD's favor, as Drexel took the first set in four of the six matches. The Dragons eventually evened the match with a win at No. 5.

Luis Molina put the Blue Hens back in front as he took down his opponent at No. 3, winning a tough second-set tiebreaker for the 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) win.

Wilkinson had to go to a pair of tiebreakers before defeating his adversary at No.1 to give Delaware a 3-1 lead. He won the first set 7-6 after taking the tiebreaker 7-2 before rallying in the second set and clinching the win with an 8-6 tiebreaker victory.

Meanwhile, Wagemaker (No. 2), Gluck (No. 4) and Valdoleiros (No. 6) all fought back first first-set losses to force a deciding third set. All three were leading their respective final sets when Valdoleiros' opponent was forced to retire due to an injury, giving the Blue Hens the winning point. Valdoleiros was leading 3-6, 6-2, 4-2.

The Blue Hens advance to the semifinals of the CAA Championship for the first time in 20 trips to the tournament and will face No. 2 UNCW on Saturday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

For the latest on the Delaware men's tennis program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareMTEN and Instagram @DelawareMTen.

Singles
1. James Wilkinson (DEL) def. Xandy Hammitt (DREXEL) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6)
2. Pascal Wagemaker (DEL) vs. Alex De Sousa (DREXEL) 4-6, 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
3. Luis Molina (DEL) def. Alan Jesudason (DREXEL) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
4. Alexandre Gluck (DEL) vs. Sanil Jagtiani (DREXEL) 4-6, 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
5. Matvey Radionov (DREXEL) def. Tobias Sonne (DEL) 6-4, 6-4
6. G. Valdoleiros (DEL) def. Juan Manuel Sanchez (DREXEL) 3-6, 6-2, 4-2, retired

Doubles
1. Jesudason/De Sousa (DREX) def. Wilkinson/Pierce Gilheany (DEL) 6-2
2. Wagemaker/Valdoleiros (DEL) def. Jagtiani/Djordje Janackovic (DREX) 6-2
3. Gluck/Liam Hedlund (DEL) def. Radionov/Sanchez (DREX) 6-3