Stags extinguish Ephs, defeat #14 Williams 8-1
#1 CMS Stags Tennis swept all three doubles matches before cruising to an 8-1 win over #14 Williams on Wednesday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Stags' eighth doubles sweep in seventeen matches turned an otherwise close start to the match into a one-sided victory. Skyler Butts (Jr. - Santa Ana, CA) and Daniel Morkovine (So. - San Carlos, CA) won at #2 doubles and #2 and #4 singles respectively to lead the Stags.
With a 2-0 lead behind top pair Warren Wood (Sr. Capt - Del Mar, CA) and Joe Dorn (Sr. - Washington D.C.), and #3 team Nik Marino (Sr. Capt - San Diego, CA) and Bryan Mehall (Jr. - Snowmass Village, CO), Butts and Morkovine earned a love break of serve at 5-6 and then served out the match to complete the doubles sweep. Butts and Morkovine have now won nine in a row and are 12-1 this spring. Wood and Dorn were also impressive at the top position. Down a break of serve at 4-3, the Stags' #1 team broke three times and won the last five games of the match.
CMS yielded only one set to the Ephs in singles, and were led by Marino's 6-0, 6-1 win at #3. Sophomore Glenn Hull (Brookings, OR) clinched the dual for the Stags with his 6-2, 6-3 win at #6. Hull was moved into the starting lineup after Dorn was withdrawn after the doubles. Morkovine, who moved up to #4, was a straight set winner and kept his perfect dual match record intact. Morkovine is now 12-0 this spring, and 14-1 overall. Wood and Butts both started slowly at #1 and #2 singles, but pulled away from their opponents in the second set. Wood trailed 1-5 in the opening set before reeling off six straight games to take the first. He was broken in the first game of the second set and then won six straight to close out the match. Butts was broken to start the match at #2, but then broke back twice to take the first 6-3. He had two more breaks in the second to complete the 6-3, 6-3 win for his sixteenth of the season.
CMS returns to SCIAC action this Friday, hosting #17 Redlands at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center at 2:00 PM. Then on Saturday, the Stags host #16 Gustavus Adolphus at 10:00 AM and #8 (NAIA) Westmont at 3:00 PM. CMS is 16-1 overall.
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8) vs. #14 Williams (1)
April 1, 2015 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Joe Dorn / Warren Wood (CMS) def. Jose Raventos / Rohan Shastri (Williams) 8-4
2. Skyler Butts / Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Jordan Sadowsky / Brian Astrachan (Williams) 8-5
3. Nik Marino / Bryan Mehall (CMS) def. Sachin Raghavan / Brian Grodecki (Williams) 8-6
Singles
1. Warren Wood (CMS) def. Jose Raventos (Williams) 7-5, 6-1
2. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Rohan Shastri (Williams) 6-3, 6-3
3. Nikolas Marino (CMS) def. Conrad Harron (Williams) 6-0, 6-1
4. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Brian Grodecki (Williams) 6-1, 6-4
5. Howard Weiss (Williams) def. Max Macey (CMS) 6-3, 4-6, (10-7)
6. Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Sachin Raghavan (Williams) 6-2, 6-3
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 3, 6, 4, 1, 2, 5