A History of Emory and Wash U

Most people refer to Emory-Wash U as D3’s best rivalry. I think everyone is in agreement with this outside of D3Northeast and before their quarterfinal tomorrow, I’m going to review how this rivalry got to be where it is. These two teams have played on the biggest stages possible, including countless conference finals, a couple Indoors finals and the national title match in 2008. I’m going to begin the history in 2007, which is the first year the Bears really challenged Emory, who was already a national powerhouse.

Overall Series: Emory leads 11-6

2007
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 5-4
Year-End Finishes: Emory 2, Wash U 7

As stated above, this was the first real close match these two teams had. It was John Watts freshman year and the Bears jumped out to a 2-1 lead in this match before Emory came back to win a thriller. Both teams eventually fell to Cruz in the NCAA tournament, but this was the first real battle of what would turn into a great rivalry the next year.

2008
Indoors 3rd Place: Wash U d. Emory 7-2
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 6-2
NCAA Final: Wash U d. Emory 5-3
Year-End Finishes: Emory 2, Wash U 1

The Indoors match was the first time Wash U ever beat Emory and it was the match that truly began the rivalry. Although it wasn’t the title match, it announced the Bears on the national scene as a true contender after they lost in the NCAA quarterfinals the previous year. Emory returned the favor on their home courts in the UAA final as the Eagles topped Wash U in Atlanta in a very hard fought match. Heading into NCAAs, the field was wide open with no true favorite. Along with Wash U and Emory, CMS, Middlebury and William were also considered contenders. However, it was the 2 UAA powerhouses that ended up meeting in the final with Wash U prevailing in a 5-3 nail biter. Coming into this season, the Bears were still thought of as a team on the rise, so their national title really threw a curveball at the D3 elite. I think the best perception comparison to the modern day would be if Hopkins would have had a top 5 season this year and went on to win the national title. This was Wash U’s first Final 4 appearance.

2009
Indoors Final: Emory d. Wash U 6-3
UAA Final: Wash U d. Emory 5-4
NCAA 3rd Place: Emory d. Wash U 5-3
Year-End Finishes: Emory 3, Wash U 4

In my opinion, outside of the 2012 squad, this was Emory’s best team. Now Asst. Coach Chris Goodwin was a freshman and overlapped with NCAA singles champion Michael Goodwin to lead an Eagles team that was an absolute powerhouse and heavy national title favorite heading into the season. The Eagles handled the Bears easily in Indoors in a 6-3 final that wasn’t as close as the score. The UAA final was the biggest upset in all of the 17 matches you’ll see in this article. Emory was predicted to stomp Wash U and head into NCAAs as the #1 seed, but the Bears used the great equalizer, the doubles sweep, to top the Eagles 5-4. Wash U and Emory entered NCAAs as the 1 and 2 overall seeds this year, and as everyone knows they both fell in the semis to red hot Amherst and Cruz teams. As expected, the Eagles topped the Bears in the 3rd place match, but they had to be disappointed that they didn’t win it all with such a great team. I think Emory turned a corner this year as they had previously had been a team with a casual, arrogant attitude that was super talented versus the grind it out team that you see today. That doubles sweep against Wash U, and the doubles sweep in the NCAA semi, was a wake up call that they had to be a little more focused with the newly found depth in D3.

2010
Indoors Semifinal: Wash U d. Emory 5-4
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 5-2
Year-End Finishes: Emory 4, Wash U 6

In the Indoors semi, Wash U defeated Emory in another classic match that was tied at 4-4. Emory returned the favor in the UAA final in a 5-2 win that was a lot closer than the score, clinched by Colin Egan’s 7-6 in the 3rd win at #4 singles. Both teams headed into NCAAs as top 4 seeds. the Eagles at that point had the top 2 singles players in the country in Pottish and Goodwin. In one of the most shocking results in D3 history, 7th seeded Amherst knocked off the Eagles after Emory took a 3-0 lead. Pottish and Goodwin would both lose due to fitness issues, as this match was another turning point in the Emory program. I believe that this loss was the reason the Eagles won the 2012 national title as Emory was able to survive 3 brutal days in the heat in Cary, NC. Wash U went on to give Middlebury a scare in the NCAA semifinal in a 5-4 loss, as Midd would eventually go on to dominate Amherst the following day.

2011
Indoors Final: Emory d. Wash U 6-3
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 6-0
NCAA Semifinal: Emory d. Wash U 5-0
Year-End Finishes: Emory 2, Wash U 3

This two-year stretch was an outlier in the rivalry as Emory dominated the Bears in all 4 matches you’ll see. Wash U ended up finishing #3 in the country in 2011, but the word out of St. Louis was that the Bears weren’t happy with their season because they were losing to the Eagles so badly. It was almost a foregone conclusion that Emory and Amherst would meet in the NCAA final, as no one else had enough firepower to compete at the top of the lineup, Wash U included. This year was when I truly began to realize that a big part of how these teams measure themselves is how they’re doing against each other.

2012
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 8-1
Year-End Finishes: Emory 1, Wash U 4

This was Emory’s national title year and also the year of another shocking NCAA result involving these two teams. For those who don’t remember, Wash U had slipped out of the top 15 in the country. They got swept by both Case and Carnegie in doubles and came back to win both matches. Despite entering the tournament outside of the top 10 in the ITA rankings, the Bears somehow managed to get a top seed in their region and make it to the quarterfinals. There they faced an Amherst team that had previously been untouchable and was an overwhelming favorite to win back to back national titles. The Bears swept the Jeffs in doubles and went on to win the match. This paved the way for Emory to win the title as they eventually defeated Kenyon in the finals after being down 2-0 and the Lords having match points to sweep doubles. I haven’t discussed the 2012 UAA final yet, but it was not close as you see above.

2013
UAA Final: Wash U d. Emory 5-4
Year-End Finishes: Emory 6, Wash U 4

This UAA final was very similar to the 2015 UAA final except the Bears came out on top. Emory was hurting from the loss of Pottish and Goodwin and the Bears saw that opening and took the UAA title for the first time since 2009. Wash U would go on to reach its 6th consecutive Final 4 and Emory’s streak of 13 consecutive years finishing inside the top 5 would come to an end after a loss to Amherst in the quarterfinals.

2014
EDIT: Stag-Hen Semifinal: Wash U d. Emory 6-3
Year-End Finishes: Emory 6, Wash U 5

These two only met once last season with Wash U winning comfortably in the Stag-Hen after another doubles sweep. The Eagles lost in the first round of Indoors to Hopkins and the Bears went on to win it. Emory then was upset in the UAA semifinal by Carnegie and Wash U comfortably took the title the following day. The Eagles would once again miss the top 5 in the year-end rankings, putting additional pressure on the 2015 squad to get back there. The Bears streak of 6 consecutive Final 4s dating back to their 2008 national title would come to and end in a loss to Trinity (TX).

2015
Indoor Semifinal: Emory d. Wash U 6-3
UAA Final: Emory d. Wash U 5-4
8-year Avg. Finish: Emory 3.25, Wash U 4.25

The Bears were swept in doubles by the Eagles in very surprising fashion at Indoors after coming into the tournament as the favorite. Emory would again get the best of Wash U in another epic UAA final. These incredible Emory-Wash U matches have really become par for the course and what I find interesting about tomorrow’s encounter is that this is the earliest the Eagles and Bears will ever meet in the NCAA tournament. I believe there is a lot on the line this year as both programs are trying to shake off a 2014 NCAA tournament that was not up to their standards. I expect another classic match between these two incredible programs.