5th Ranked Hawaii Pacific Ends Stags' Streak at Six

CMS Stags Tennis dropped the opening contest of their four dual match Hawaii trip, falling to Hawaii Pacific, the fifth ranked team in Division II, by a 7-2 score. CMS earned its first point at #2 doubles, as junior captain Neel Kotrappa (La Verne, CA) and Skyler Butts (Fr. - Santa Ana, CA) stayed unbeaten in nine matches this spring. Senior Alex Lane (Claremont, CA) won his fourth straight match, this time at #3 singles, to give CMS its only other point of the afternoon.

On a cloudy day at Central Oahu Regional Park, CMS struggled to start strong in all but two matches, both of which they ended up winning. Kotrappa and Butts raced out to a 4-0 two service break lead before conceding five of the next six games. The Stags' #2 pair then held, broke, and held again to close out their match and keep CMS at only 2-1 down heading into the singles.

Similarly, Lane got an early break in the first to grab a quick lead at #3 singles. Lane then ceded breaks of serve in the third and ninth games of the opening set before losing it 6-4. His break in the second game of the second set helped him gain a 3-0 advantage, before dropping serve in the fourth game. With Lane leading 3-2 in the second set and the dual already clinched by HPU, his opponent retired with an injured shoulder.

Fellow senior Alex Johnson (Thousand Oaks, CA) - playing at #6 singles - showed great determination in winning the second set of his match after losing the first 6-1. His opportunity to give CMS its third point of the day came up short when he lost the deciding match tie-break 10-4.

CMS will take on #13 Whitman at Central Oahu Regional Park on Tuesday at 10:30 AM local time (1:30 PM PST) in an important west regional match-up for both teams.

#4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2) vs. #5 Hawaii Pacific (7)
March 18, 2013 at Oahu, HI (Central Oahu Regional Park)

Doubles
1. Petr Michnev / Gerald Moretti (HPU) def. Warren Wood / Joe Dorn (CMS) 8-2
2. Neel Kotrappa / Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Yann Renault / Adriano Locorotondo (HPU) 8-5
3. Max Herti / Juame Martinez Vich (HPU) def. Lestter Yeh / Zhenya Pereverzin (CMS) 8-1

Singles
1. Petr Michnev (HPU) def. Warren Wood (CMS) 6-1, 6-3
2. Juame Martinez Vich (HPU) def. Nik Marino (CMS) 6-1, 6-3
3. Alex Lane (CMS) def. Gerald Moretti (HPU) 4-6, 3-2 Ret (inj)
4. Max Herti (HPU) def. Mac Cahill (CMS) 6-3, 6-3
5. Maxime Halflants (HPU) def. Neel Kotrappa (CMS) 6-2, 6-2
6. Yann Renault (HPU) def. Alex Johnson (CMS) 6-1, 4-6, (10-4)

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