Stags open season with wins over Brandeis and Concordia; Butts and Settles reach milestones
CMS Stags Tennis opened the 2016 spring dual match season on Saturday, earning a 9-0 win against #28 Brandeis and an 8-1 victory against Division II Concordia University Irvine. Senior captain Skyler Butts (Santa Ana, CA) won both of his singles matches at the top position, his 100th and 101st career singles victories. The dual match wins were the 300th and 301st of head coach Paul Settles' career at CMS.
Eleven Stags contributed to the pair of opening day victories. Freshmen Julian Gordy (Tarzana, CA), and Avi Vemuri (Portland, OR) each had two wins in their dual match debuts, while senior Oliver Seifert (Los Altos, CA) returned to singles action and earned his first dual match win since May 5, 2013.
CMS was 6-0 in tie-breakers on the day, winning four against Brandeis and two against Concordia. Junior Daniel Morkovine (San Carlos, CA), who contributed three wins, needed tie-break wins in the first set and decisive match tie-break for his victory at #2 singles against Concordia. Junior Glenn Hull (Brookings, OR), playing in the #2 singles position against Brandeis, similarly needed two tie-breaks to earn his first dual match win of 2016. In the most dramatic tie-break of the afternoon, junior Rohan Shankar (San Jose, CA) saved two match points at 4-6 down in the deciding tie-break at #6 singles against Brandeis. Shankar won the last four points of the match to complete the shut out against the Judges.
In addition to Butts, upperclassmen Max Macey (Jr. - Wilton, CT), Alex Brenner (Jr. - San Francisco, CA), Lestter Yeh (Sr. - Arcadia, CA) and Bryan Mehall (Sr. - Snowmass Village, CO) had little trouble in their straight set wins in the middle part of the Stags singles lineup.
In earning his 100th and 101st career singles victories, Butts joins three other Stags in breaking the century mark. Butts' 2015 teammates Warren Wood and Nik Marino lead the career singles victories list with 111 and 108 respectively, while CMS Hall of Famer Lance Au (CMC '91) is third on the list with 104.
CMS returns to action Friday, February 26 at 2:00 PM against #21 Bates at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9) vs. #28 Brandeis (0)
February 20, 2016 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Skyler Butts / Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Michael Arguello / Jeffrey Cherkin (Brandeis) 8-4
2. Glenn Hull / Lestter Yeh (CMS) def. Danny Lubarsky / Jackson Kogan (Brandeis) 9-8(5)
3. Julian Gordy / Bryan Mehall (CMS) def. Ethan Saal / Tyler Ng (Brandeis) 8-3
Singles
1. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Michael Arguello (Brandeis) 6-1, 6-3
2. Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Ryan Bunis (Brandeis) 7-6(4), 2-6, (10-7)
3. Lestter Yeh (CMS) def. Ethan Saal (Brandeis) 6-2, 6-1
4. Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Jackson Kogan (Brandeis) 6-3, 6-0
5. Avi Vemuri (CMS) def. Tyler Ng (Brandeis) 6-1, 6-0
6. Rohan Shankar (CMS) def. Zach Cihlar (Brandeis) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6)
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 5, 3, 1, 4, 2, 6
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8) vs. Concordia University Irvine (1)
February 20, 2016 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Skyler Butts / Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Till Guttenberger / Daniel Reddman (CUI) 8-2
2. Man Hon Ko / Harsha Manjunath (CUI) def. Max Macey / Oliver Seifert (CMS) 8-6
3. Alex Brenner / Avi Vemuri (CMS) def. Filip Burnac / Santiago Sanchez (CUI) 8-2
Singles
1. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Till Guttenberger (CUI) 6-2, 6-1
2. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Filip Burnac (CUI) 7-6(1), 5-7, (10-8)
3. Max Macey (CMS) def. Man Hon Ko (CUI) 6-0, 6-0
4. Bryan Mehall (CMS) def. Santiago Sanchez (CUI) 6-1, 6-2
5. Alex Brenner (CMS) def. Daniel Reddman (CUI) 6-4, 6-3
6. Oliver Seifert (CMS) def. Harsha Manjunath (CUI) 6-1, 7-5
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2