ST. PETER, Minn. In a match that lasted four hours, the Blues pulled off a 5-4 upset over No. 6 and regional host Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday afternoon at the Brown Outdoor Tennis Center, winning the NCAA Regional and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1988.

With the contest tied at 4-4, Whitman's No. 5 Chase Friedman, having split the first two sets in his match against Gustavus Adolphus College's Yassine Derbine, had to overcome all the odds to earn the win. Friedman was playing up from his usual six spot, and battled cramping during the second set to win the decider 6-3 and send No. 20 Whitman onto the Elite Eight.  

"It was a crazy exciting match" said Head Coach Jeff Northam. "We knew what we were getting into, and it was some exceptional play by both teams. It came down to Chase, both players were cramping, but he really just gutted it out."

Doubles got off to a bit of a slow start as Whitman (18-7) found itself trailing playing from behind in the early-going. On Court No. 1, the Blues top pair of Zach Hewlin and Robert Carter was down 2-3 against the Gusties' top pair of Mohanad Alhouni and Patrick Whaling.

The two teams are not unfamiliar with each other as Hewlin and Carter faced off against the pairing last October at the 2017 Division III Men's Doubles Oracle Cup. Alhouni and Whaling were the top overall seed when they fell to the Blues duo in the quarterfinals in three sets. Hewlin and Carter, who were relatively new to playing with each other after having different doubles partners a year ago, went on to finish in third in the tournament.

This time around, Hewlin and Carter were able to wrestle away control of the match and get on a bit of a hot streak. "We had seen these guys before and we knew what the strategy was" said Hewlin. It proved to be true as the duo went on to win six of the next eight games, giving the first point of the day to Whitman 8-5.

However, the match did not come without a setback as Carter actually stepped on a piece of river rock and turned his ankle during the match. Robert, or 'Bobby' as he is called by his teammates, detailed the event.

"We came out a little bit tight, really didn't start out too well" said Carter. "I stepped on a river rock, hurt myself, and it did not help. We took an injury timeout, and it helped get us back in it.  We went on to win seven of the last nine games, and we just kind of rolled them."

On court two, Alex Hwang and Trevor Fennessy found themselves in a battle they simply could not overcome. They found themselves down 1-4 against the Gusties' Tommy Entwistle and Chase Johnson. Hwang and Fennessy scraped their way back to make it 5-7 before Gustavus finished off the match and won 5-8 to even the doubles score at one apiece.

Doubles came down to the No. 3 matchup between the Blues Chase Friedman and Ben Kirsh against the Gustavus pairing of Zach Ekstein and Mason Bultje. It appeared as though the Blues were going to come out on top of that one as the two teams traded sets back and forth, but lead 5-4 after nine games.

However, despite saving three match points and fighting into a tiebreaker, Whitman dropped the set 7-9 and trailed 2-1 after the doubles portion of the competition.

To make matters worse, Carter was unable to continue to compete and had to be taken out of the No. 4 singles, changing around the Whitman lineup. Daniel Foster slid up to No. 4, Friedman slid up from six to five, and Hwang was called upon to step into the starting lineup and play on court six.

"It was definitely one of the hardest things I've had to do while here, thinking about not being able to play in what might be your last match doesn't feel great" said Carter. "But Alex, he's a sophomore, he stepped up for us more than I can explain, and everyone was just playing so well and working hard. I knew we weren't in trouble."  

Not only did Hwang step into the lineup, but Alex gave the Blues the spark they needed.  Hwang came out firing on all cylinders, winning the first five games and won his first set 6-1.

"Alex had to move up to six and was first to win a single set, and really set the tone to follow suit" said Hwang's doubles partner Trevor Fennessy. "It was really incredible. Everyone was really confident."

 While Hwang jumped out to the quick first set win, the first court to finish playing was on court four. Foster, who is accustomed to playing at the five, lost in straight sets, but not without a fight. After falling in the first set 6-1, he responded to lead 2-1 early in set two. But eventually Chase Johnson, playing the four for Gustavus, won the next two games and went on to win 7-5 and put Gustavus up 3-1.

The first singles win for Whitman came on court one, where Zach Hewlin came out in dominant fashion against Alhouni. Mohanad Alhouni, who had beaten Hewitt in singles play in Walla Walla a year ago, found himself behind from the outset as Hewitt beat him in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

"It was me just playing the same guy twice" said Hewlin. "Last year when they came to Walla Walla I got beaten pretty badly in singles, so it was nice to able to earn some redemption on his court today."

Meanwhile, back on court six, Hwang had a more difficult time putting away his opponent to earn the win.  Alex trailed most of the match, including being down 5-6, but went on to win the last three games to get the third win of the day for the Blues.

Whitman senior Luke Targett, who did not play but was an acting coach, was with Hwang during his match.

"After Bobby [Robert Carter] rolled his ankle in doubles, Alex Hwang stepped up at 6, he came out on fire. It was so awesome to watch him as one of the younger players in a crucial position and he came out swinging. He has been in this before and it was tough, so this time he really played his heart out and I just knew this is when we are going to win."

On Court two, the Gusties Zack Ekstein was in control the whole way against Kirsh, who simply could not find a way to break through Ekstein's attack. Gustavus, with the victory on court two with straight sets 6-2, 6-3 was one point away from victory, leading Whitman 4-3.

The court No. 3 match between Gary Ho and Patrick Whaling might have been the hardest-fought match of the day, despite the fact that it was decided in straight sets.  It seemed that every time Ho would find an advantage, Whaling would fight him back and draw it close. After leading the first set 3-0, Whaling won the next two to make it 3-2. After it was 5-5, Ho finally broke through and won the last two games to earn the first set win 7-5.

 Gary really fed off his team's energy to push through his entire match, including the second match where he fell behind early 1-2. "I was a little bit isolated and really could not see everybody else" said Ho. "But it was huge to feed off of everyone else's energy, I could still hear guys yelling when they won a point or set, and we were just able to keep tabs on each other. 

Ho went on to win the next two games of his set, and eventually come out on top with the 6-4 win, bringing the regional all even at four with only court five still in play.

The best way to explain Chase Friedman's singles match is to let it come from the words of Chase himself.

"I started off, played doubles, and we had a really close loss, but I felt good coming into singles. With Bobby's injury, I had to move up from 6 to 5, it made me a little nervous. I go out to play match, he gets up 4-1 in the first set, I started focusing a little more, and won it 6-4. Then in the second set, I started feeling my leg cramping, and really freaking out. I didn't know how everyone else was doing because my court was far from everyone else. I lose the second set 6-1 because I was cramping, then beginning the third set I realize everyone is coming to our court and it is down to me."

"I took my time, slowed down my legs, kept grinding, and started playing really well."  I was hitting the ball super well left and right, then he started cramping too. I realized I can do this. Against all odds, somehow I pulled it all out, and after knowing what happened to me freshman year, then to have a chance to win this one, it feels so good."

Up 40-15 and leading the decisive third set 5-3, Friedman dug down and used everything he had left.  He was unable to use his regular serve because of the cramping in his leg. But after getting his opponent on the run, Friedman hit a shot to his forehand and he missed it and hit it into the net to notch the win for Whitman.

"At that moment, time froze for me. I threw my headband and racket in the air, and I yelled 'Elite 8'" Friedman recalled. "But I have to give huge praise to Zach and Alex and all of my teammates, I'm just so happy right now."

"It was redemption for Chase" added Northam. "He cramped when we played Wash U. freshman year, and it was the deciding match. Then he has redemption to send the team through to the Elite Eight, it is pretty special."

So now Whitman will go on to play at the Bizsantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, California May 21st-26th.  The Blues will play the winner of the regional between Middlebury and Johns Hopkins. In addition to team play, the Blues will also have Hewlin and Carter play in singles at the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships.

But this one is all about the team. For a Whitman squad that features eight seniors, they are looking to do what they all set out to do when they first arrived on campus.