Stags strong at Pac Coast Doubles; open conference play with shutout of Caltech
#2 CMS Stags Tennis competed at the 127th Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships this weekend, and then returned home on Sunday to win their conference opener over #40 Caltech. Four of six Stags doubles teams won opening matches on Friday in La Jolla at the nation's second oldest tournament. CMS returned to the Biszantz Family Tennis Center with a senior laden squad, defeating the Beavers to begin the 2016 SCIAC campaign.
On Friday, CMS doubles pairs earned wins over teams from Stanford and Villanova and two seeded independent teams. Senior captain Skyler Butts (Santa Ana, CA) and Daniel Morkovine (Jr. - San Carlos, CA) defeated Stanford's Michael Genender and Trey Strobel in the opening round 8-2, before falling in a tough 8-6 match to Oklahoma State's Lucas Gerch and Temur Ismailov in the Round of 64. Senior Lestter Yeh (Arcadia, CA) and Glenn Hull were 8-1 winners in the first round against Villanova's Alastair Hurry and Matthew Phelps, before losing to 9th seeded Santiago Cevallos and Milen Ianakiev from San Diego State in the second round. The Stags' Julian Gordy (Fr. - Tarzana, CA) and Max Macey (Jr. - Wilton, CT) and Avi Vemuri (Fr. - Portland, OR) and Alex Brenner (Jr. - San Francisco, CA) also had first round wins over seeded independent teams, before falling in the Round of 64 to teams from OSU and UC Irvine respectively.
Against Caltech on Sunday, CMS unveiled three new doubles combinations and a singles lineup featuring all four Stag seniors. Butts and Yeh at #1, Morkovine and Gordy at #2, and Hull and Macey at #3 all debuted as teams for the first time in 2016, earning 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3 wins in order of position. Yeh put the Stags up 4-0 after his opponent suffered an ankle injury at 6-0, 2-1 at the #4 position. Hull then clinched the dual with his 6-0, 6-2 win at #2. After Morkovine lost only one game at third singles, seniors Butts, Oliver Seifert (Los Altos, CA) and Bryan Mehall (Snowmass Village, CO) won in straight sets at #1, #6 and #5 to complete the shutout for the Stags.
Next up for #2 CMS is seventh ranked Carnegie Mellon, this Wednesday, March 9 at 4 PM at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
#2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9) vs. #40 Caltech (0)
March 6, 2016 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Skyler Butts / Lestter Yeh (CMS) def. Ruthwick Pathireddy / Sathwick Pathireddy (Caltech) 8-1
2. Daniel Morkovine / Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Morgan Lebby / Rushikesh Joshi (Caltech) 8-2
3. Max Macey / Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Derik Nguyen / Zixiao Li (Caltech) 8-3
Singles
1. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Rushikesh Joshi (Caltech) 6-2, 6-0
2. Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Morgan Lebby (Caltech) 6-0, 6-2
3. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Sathwick Pathireddy (Caltech) 6-1, 6-0
4. Lestter Yeh (CMS) def. Derik Nguyen (Caltech) 6-0, 2-1 (Ret - ankle)
5. Bryan Mehall(CMS) def. Zixiao Li (Caltech) 6-3, 7-5
6. Oliver Seifert (CMS) def. Andre Liu (Caltech) 6-3, 6-2
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 4, 2, 3, 1, 6, 5