CMS Defeats Williams 5-2 To Advance To NCAA Semis

CMS advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships with a 5-2 win over Williams College. CMS avenged a 7-2 loss earlier this season to Williams and improved to 26-7 overall.  The Stags will play Washington University (MO) at 2:00 pm EST Wednesday.  CMS lost in Austin, TX to Wash U on March 30.

After being swept in doubles in their first matchup, the Stags returned the favor and took a 3-0 lead after doubles.  Ben Hough (SR, Spokane, WA) and Eric MacColl (SO, Greenbrae) won 8-3 at #2 and were quickly followed by an 8-5 win at #3 by Ronald Wu (FR, Los Altos)/Michael Starr (SO, San Ramon) and an 8-6 win at #1 by Lawrence Wang (JR, Orange)/Guillaume Schils (JR, Shaker Heights, OH).

The Stags won the first set in four of the six singles matches, but the Ephs fought back and scored the first singles point at #3 with a 6-2, 6-2 win.  They also won at #4 with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 to cut the lead to 3-2.  Russell Brockett (FR, Austin, TX) won at #5 6-4, 6-4 to put the Stags up 4-2 and Wang secured the win with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win at #1. Wang's win reversed some pretty strong Williams momentum, given that he was down 0-3 and break point in the decisive third set.

Hough was on serve at #6 6-4, 3-6, 4-4 and MacColl was up a service break at #2 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 when the match was stopped.