Sillaste Secures Spot in Elite Eight with Double Victory

5/26/2024 6:09:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, MO - First-year Andreas Sillaste clinched both his first and second-round matches in the singles event of the 2024 NCAA DIII Men's Tennis Championship today, advancing to the Quarterfinals. Ranked #17 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the Finnish standout continued his excellent singles performance in the season's final tournament. The NESCAC and NCAA DIII Rookie of the Year has now progressed to the Elite Eight.

In his opening match at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center, Sillaste faced the tournament's sixth seed, #11 Caleb Wilkins of the #39 Chapman University Panthers. Demonstrating excellent serving and consistent groundstrokes, Sillaste triumphed in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, in just one hour and sixteen minutes.

Shortly after, Sillaste had less than an hour to prepare for his Round of 16 match. Despite the quick turnaround, he was dominant versus #47 Eli Mizerski of the George Fox University Bruins, winning 6-4, 6-1.

With a season singles record of 16-8 at the #1 spot for Amherst, Sillaste will remain in Missouri to compete in his Elite Eight match tomorrow at 9am (ET). He will face #7 Vuk Vuksanovic of the #6 Tufts University Jumbos. The two had a closely-contested match earlier this season on Tufts' home courts in Medford, MA, where Vuksanovic narrowly prevailed 6-4, 2-6, [11-9]. Sillaste is eager to come away with the win this time, eyeing a place in the Final Four.

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