ORLANDO, Fla. --- Washington and Lee sophomore Evan Erb (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS) opened play in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Singles Championship on Thursday, but fell in straight sets to Caleb Wilkins of Chapman University.
 
Wilkins earned the win by final set scores of 6-3, 6-2. Erb dropped the first three games of the match, but responded with a 3-1 run to cut Wilkins' lead to 4-3. His run included claiming back-to-back games after Wilkins went up by a 4-1 score. Wilkins then won the eighth and ninth games to move up a set, 6-3.
 
In the second set, Wilkins jumped out to a multi-game lead with wins in the first two. Erb won the third game but Wilkins claimed each of the next three, leaving him just one game away from clinching the match. Erb earned a win in the seventh game, which included him fighting off a match point in deuce, but Wilkins finished his match win in the next game to take the second set, 6-2.
 
The match saw just two deuce points, with each player winning one.
 
Erb closes out his sophomore campaign with an 18-6 overall record and will enter his junior campaign with a career singles record of 29-11. This concludes all match play for the W&L men's tennis program for the 2022-23 season.