Morkovine wins singles and doubles at ITA West Regional
CLAREMONT, Calif. – Senior Daniel Morkovine (CMC) became the first player in Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis history to win the ITA West Regional in singles and doubles over the weekend. The Stags were the dominant team in the competition as the finals for both the singles and doubles draws were entirely comprised of CMS players.
Morkovine beat freshman Nikolai Parodi (CMC) in the singles final in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 7-5). In his first collegiate tournament, Parodi was ranked No. 8 in singles and unranked in doubles but ultimately competed for the championship in both events. In singles, Parodi beat his doubles partner, senior Glenn Hull (CMC), in the quarterfinals (6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4). Hull and Parodi won five doubles matches before falling to Morkovine and sophomore Julian Gordy (CMC) in the final (6-4, 6-4).
Morkovine, the No. 3 seed in singles, dropped only one set en route to the final. Parodi even had the 5-4 edge in the third set of the final before Morkovine won the final three games for the victory. Parodi's run to the final was the best from a CMS freshman since Michael Starr won the ITA Regional in 2006.
The winners of the singles and doubles draws earned ITA All-American honors making Morkovine and Gordy the 52nd and 53rd players in program history. Morkovine is also the sixth-consecutive Stag to qualify for the Oracle Cup in singles while the duo is the first doubles team to qualify since 2012.
Sophomore Avinash Vemuri (CMC) lost his first round match on the singles side to Chase Lipscomb from Redlands and then powered through the consolation bracket without dropping a set to beat No. 9 seed Chad LeDuff from UC Santa Cruz in the consolation final. In the singles draw, six CMS players advanced to the quarterfinals with Parodi and Daniel Park (CMC) as the only freshmen to make it that far.
Morkovine and Gordy qualified for the ITA Oracle Cup in Surprise, Ariz. Oct. 13-16. Unfortunately, Morkovine will be unable to attend due to personal reasons. As the runners up in the events, Parodi will travel in Morkovine's stead as the singles player and the pair of Parodi/Hull will represent the West in doubles.
The ITA Oracle Cup takes the eight regional winners in singles and doubles from each of the small college divisions: NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA, and junior college. The players in each division will play out to place. Then, the champions from each division will compete against each other for the Small College Super Bowl.
Results | ITA Oracle Cup Information
By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director
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