Stags win duo in the desert

#2 CMS Stags Tennis defeated 17th ranked (Division II) UC San Diego 7-2, and Division III Clark University 9-0, in a pair of matches moved to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden due to the threat of rain. The Stags were led by junior Skyler Butts (Santa Ana, CA) who won at #2 doubles and then clinched the dual match win against UCSD at #2 singles. Senior captain Warren Wood (Del Mar, CA[pictured right]) was the only Stag to win three matches on the day, earning a victory at #1 doubles with partner Joe Dorn (Sr. - Washington D.C.) against UCSD, and then a pair of singles wins at the top position.

CMS took a 2-1 advantage from the doubles against the UCSD on the strength of a second consecutive solid performance from Wood and Dorn at #1. Their 8-3 win put the Stags up 1-0 with Butts and Daniel Morkovine (So. - San Carlos, CA) leading 7-2 at #2 doubles. The Tritons' #2 pair fought to break twice and save a match point to force a tie-break, but Butts and Morkovine prevailed for the second week in a row by a 7-5 margin in the tie-break.

All of the singles matches against UCSD were tightly contested, despite CMS winning the opening set in all six. Five of the six matches went three sets, with only Nik Marino (Sr. Captain - San Diego, CA) earning a straight set win at #3. With the Stags up 4-2 in matches, Butts got the clinching win at #2 singles, closely followed by sophomore Max Macey (Wilton, CT) at #6. Morkovine closed out the scoring for the Stags with his 6-3 third set win at #5.

In the second match of the afternoon, CMS blanked Clark 9-0 on only the second day of outdoor play for the Massachussets squad. The Stags surrendered one game in doubles, with sophomores Glenn Hull (Brookings, OR) and Rohan Shankar (San Jose, CA) earning their first doubles wins of the season. Hull, Shankar, Marino, Bryan Mehall (Jr. - Snowmass Village, CO) and Alex Brenner (So. - San Francisco, CA) were all two match winners against Clark.

CMS moves to 4-0 on the season and will travel to La Jolla, CA for the 126th Annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship Thursday through Sunday, March 5-8. The Stags then travel to Thousand Oaks on Sunday, March 8 for their SCIAC season opener at 2 PM against Cal Lutheran.

#2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #17 UC San Diego (2)
February 28, 2015 at Indian Wells, CA (Indian Wells Tennis Garden)

Doubles
1. Joe Dorn / Warren Wood (CMS) def. Axel Boullin / Rajeev Herekar (UCSD) 8-3
2. Skyler Butts / Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Kona Luu / Eric Tseng (UCSD) 9-8(5)
3. Mark Meyer / Justin Zhang (UCSD) def. Nik Marino / Bryan Mehall (CMS)  8-6

Singles
1. Warren Wood (CMS) def. Axel Boullin (UCSD) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
2. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Eric Tseng (UCSD) 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2
3. Nikolas Marino (CMS) def. Horea Porutiu (UCSD) 6-0, 6-4
4. Rajeev Herekar (UCSD) def. Joe Dorn (CMS) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Mark Meyer (UCSD) 7-6(4), 6-7(0), 6-3
6. Max Macey (CMS) def. Kona Luu (UCSD) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

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

#2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9) vs. Clark (0)
February 28, 2015 at Indian Wells, CA (Indian Wells Tennis Garden)

Doubles
1. Nik Marino / Bryan Mehall (CMS) def. Dan Stein / Zach Goodstein (Clark) 8-1
2. Glenn Hull / Alex Brenner (CMS) def. Fernando Pinoargote / Spencer Pinkney (Clark) 8-0
3. Lestter Yeh / Rohan Shankar (CMS) def. Josh Burger / Joel Simonson (Clark) 8-0

Singles
1. Warren Wood (CMS) def. Dan Stein (Clark) 7-5, 6-1
2. Nikolas Marino (CMS) def. Spencer Pinkney (Clark) 6-0, 6-1
3. Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Fernando Pinoargote (Clark) 6-0, 6-0
4. Bryan Mehall (CMS) def. Zach Goodstein (Clark) 6-2, 6-2
5. Alex Brenner (CMS) def. Josh Burger (Clark) 6-0, 6-0
6. Rohan Shankar (CMS) def. Joel Simonson (Clark) 6-0, 6-0

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