Men’s Tennis Knocks Off #5 Middlebury

CMS Stags Tennis got an important 6-3 win over 5^th ranked Middlebury College on Tuesday, to begin a week where the Stags play five (5) teams ranked nationally in the top nine (9) in a period of six days. CMS was led by three-time All-American Lawrence Wang (Jr. - Orange, CA [pictured]), who won at #1 singles and #1 doubles.

The Stags got off to a strong start by sweeping all three doubles positions, highlighted by Mike Starr (So. - San Ramon, CA) and Wang's win over the top ranked team in the country at #1. Starr was filling in for Guillaume Schils (Jr. - Shaker Heights, OH), who sat out the match with a sore back. Freshman Ronald Wu (Fr. - Los Altos, CA) and partner Mikey Lim (So. - Honolulu, HI) won their fourth consecutive dual match at #3.

After leading 3-0 after the doubles, CMS faced a Middlebury team determined to make up the deficit in the singles. After a set's worth of play on all courts, it looked as if Middlebury might just pull off the feat, winning five of six first sets, including #1 and #2 singles where Wang and Lim both served for the set. After dropping straight set matches at #6, #3, and #2, the Stags found themselves at 3-all in matches and down a set in two of the three remaining matches. Wang was the first to rally at #1, putting CMS up 4-3 with a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 win over the east region's sixth ranked singles player Andrew Lee. Junior Drew Sabater (Claremont, CA) at #5, found himself at the end of the second set when his opponent began to cramp. After dropping the second set, Sabater was solid in the third and prevailed 6-2, to clinch the match for the Stags. Meanwhile, Wu fought back from a set down and then down a break in the third, to get a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win at #4 singles and give CMS the 6-3 win.

With Tuesday's win, CMS moves to 13-4 on the season. CMS plays #1 ranked Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday at 3 PM at CMS' Marks and Smith Courts. Gustavus are the 2008 ITA National Indoor Team Champions.