Santa Cruz Tops CMS 6-3

Seventh ranked UC Santa Cruz held on for a 6-3 victory over #4 CMS in a battle of West Region rivals on Saturday. Two of the three Stags points were earned by sophomore Neel Kotrappa (La Verne, CA), who won at #2 doubles and #6 singles.

Entering the match with memories of a dramatic 5-3 victory in the NCAA Round of 16 last May - CMS' first ever win on Santa Cruz's home courts - the Stags hoped to make it two straight in Santa Cruz. Down early breaks in all three doubles positions, the Stags were able to rebound at #2, as Kotrappa and partner Brandon Wei (Sr. - Lake Oswego, OR) won 8 of 9 games for a comfortable 8-3 win and CMS' first point.

Trailing 2-1 after doubles, CMS was unable to gain much early momentum in the singles, as  Alex Lane (Jr. - Claremont, CA [pictured right]) was the only Stag to win a first set. After serving for the match in the second set at 5-4, Lane dropped the second in a tie-break, but held on to win the decisive match tie-break by a 12-10 score. After Lane had reached match point at 11-10, his opponent Erich Koening received a point penalty for an audible obscenity which gave Lane the match. Kotrappa earned the only other singles point for CMS, coming back from a set down to win at #6 singles.

CMS falls to 5-4 overall and returns to Claremont to co-host the Stag-Hen Invitational March 16-17.

#4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3) vs. #7 UC Santa Cruz (6)
March 10, 2012 at Santa Cruz, CA (Opers Field House Tennis Courts)

Doubles
1. Ian Stanley / Erik Rosner (UCSC) def. Alex Lane / Warren Wood (CMS) 8-6
2. Neel Kotrappa / Brandon Wei (CMS) def. Devin Nerenberg / Eli Scandalis (UCSC)  8-3
3. Erich Koenig / Max Littlejohn (UCSC) def. Robbie Erani / Zhenya Pereverzin (CMS)  8-5

Singles
1. Devin Nerenberg (UCSC) def. Warren Wood (CMS) 6-2, 6-0
2. Alex Lane (CMS) def. Erich Koenig (UCSC) 6-2, 6-7(6), (12-10)
3. Andre Halabi (UCSC) def. Alex Johnson (CMS) 6-2, 6-3
4. Erik Rosner (UCSC) def.Robbie Erani (CMS) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
5. Bryce Bettwy (UCSC) def. Mac Cahill (CMS) 6-2, 6-3
6. Neel Kotrappa (CMS) def. Sam Rodgers (UCSC) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 1, 5, 3, 2, 4, 6