Seniors lead Stags in 7-2 win against #3 Vanguard
Seniors Joe Dorn (Washington D.C.),Nik Marino (San Diego, CA) and Warren Wood (Del Mar, CA) combined for four wins to lead #1 CMS Stags Tennis to an impressive 7-2 victory over #3 (NAIA) Vanguard on Tuesday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Stags improve to 24-2 on the season after taking out the previously undefeated Lions, who drop to 25-1.
Wood and Dorn earned their 15th win as a team in convincing fashion to put the Stags up 1-0. At the #2 doubles position, Skyler Butts (Jr. - Santa Ana, CA) and Daniel Morkovine (So. - San Carlos, CA) won the final six games of their pro-set for the Stags' second point. Marino paired with his third partner in the last three matches - this time sophomore Glenn Hull (Brookings, OR) - and CMS' #3 team fought back from a break on two occasions, including a 6-3 deficit, to pull out a 9-7 win for the doubles sweep.
Once singles play began, the Stags dropped four of six opening sets, and a shift in the momentum of the dual match seemed imminent. However, Dorn broke at 4-5 in his first set to take a lead he would never relinquish, pulling away for a 6-4, 6-1 win at #4 to put CMS up 4-0. Butts followed with a straight set, dual match clinching win at #2 to extinguish any hopes of a Vanguard comeback. Four other Stags - Wood at #1, Marino at #3, Morkovine at #5, and Max Macey (So. - Wilton, CT) at #6 - all came back from first set losses to win easy second sets. Wood then held a 3-1 advantage in the third but couldn't hold off Vanguard's Kilchhofer. With the match clinched, Macey lost a 10-6 match tie-break to make the score 5-2. Morkovine and Marino earned CMS' final two points in dramatic style, winning 7-5 and 7-6 in the third sets in their respective matches.
The Stags travel to the 115th Ojai Valley Tournament this weekend. Wood is the defending Division III singles champion, while Butts will look to defend the Division III doubles title.
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #3 Vanguard (2)
April 21, 2015 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Warren Wood / Joe Dorn (CMS) def. Fabio Silva / Michael Rjazanov (Vanguard) 8-2
2. Skyler Butts / Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Stefan Kilchhofer / Daymon Johnson (Vanguard) 8-3
3. Nikolas Marino / Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Roger Muri /Filip Burnac (Vanguard) 9-7
Singles
1. Stefan Kilchhofer (Vanguard) def. Warren Wood (CMS) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
2. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Fabio Silva (Vanguard) 6-3, 6-4
3. Nikolas Marino (CMS) def. Roger Muri (Vanguard) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)
4. Joe Dorn (CMS) def. Michael Rjazanov (Vanguard) 6-4, 6-1
5. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Daymon Johnson (Vanguard) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
6. Filip Burnac (Vanguard) def. Max Macey (CMS) 6-4, 0-6, (10-6)
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 4, 2, 1, 6, 5, 3