Valparaiso University men’s tennis seniors Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) may have already walked across the stage at Sunday’s graduation, but the most accomplished doubles players in school history have not yet finished writing the final chapter of their storied Crusader careers.  

Schorsch and Emhardt will compete in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Doubles Championships starting on Thursday in Athens, Ga. The two will face off with Texas A&M’s AJ Catanzarita and Arthur Rinderknech in the opening round. The start time for Thursday’s match is expected to be released on Tuesday afternoon.

If Schorsch and Emhardt can knock off the Texas A&M duo, they will advance to face the winner of a match between Mississippi’s Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton and Butler’s Mason Dragos and Mikheil Khmiadashvili in the second round. Either way, the Round 2 showdown would be a rematch, as the Crusader combo defeated Fallert and Hamilton at the ITA Indoor Nationals in the fall, but lost to Dragos and Khmiadashvili in a dual match earlier this spring.

Rinderknech and Catanzariti are ninth in the most recent Oracle/ITA National Rankings, while Schorsch and Emhardt are 41^st nationally. Rinderknech and Catanzariti went 8-3 as a pair this season for the Aggies, who finished 21-7 and 11-1 in SEC play.

Schorsch and Emhardt compiled a 20-6 mark together during a season highlighted by an appearance in the ITA Indoor Nationals championship match this past fall. As a team, the Crusaders set a school record for victories by going 23-4 (7-0 Horizon) and won the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles for the second straight season.

The national doubles tournament will continue through the championship match on Monday, May 29. Links to live coverage will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.