Singles sweep gives Stags 7-2 win over No. 5 Chicago
CLAREMONT, Calif. – Another day and another comeback victory against a top five nationally ranked opponent. On Thursday evening, the No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis erased a 2-0 deficit to beat one of Division III's deepest and most talented teams in a 7-2 win against No. 5 Chicago. The Stags were led by senior captain Daniel Morkovine (CMC), who started the comeback with his win at No. 1 doubles with sophomore partner Julian Gordy (CMC), and then earned the dual match clinching victory at No. 3 singles. Morkovine is now 8-1 in dual matches and 14-1 overall in singles.
Trailing 2-1 after the doubles, CMS took advantage of early leads at every singles position except for No. 4, where junior Patrick Wildman (CMC) dropped the first set 6-4. Senior captain Glenn Hull (CMC) drew the Stags even with the Maroons in a straight set win in just over an hour at No. 2 singles. Freshman Nikolai Parodi (CMC), facing one of the top players in Division III, looked like a seasoned veteran by winning his first set 6-1, but then lost serve mid-way through the second set to trail 4-2. Meanwhile, freshman Daniel Park (CMC) was battling at No. 5 singles, desperately trying to consolidate a 5-3 lead to serve out the first set. Parodi broke back to level his match at 5-all, while Park held off a determined opponent to win his first set 7-5. Minutes later, Parodi had broken again and then served out the match to put the Stags up 3-2 in matches.
Now two matches from clinching victory, CMS needed only two games to do so. Senior Max Macey (CMC) had served for the match once at No. 6, but now had to do so again at 5-4 in the second, while Morkovine was similarly trying to serve out his match at No. 3. Macey was first to finish, earning a 6-2, 6-4 win for his seventh straight this spring. Morkovine followed minutes later with the clinch at No. 3. Wildman and Park completed the singles sweep by winning at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
CMS is now 5-0 against teams ranked in the top-10 nationally. In those matches they are 27-3 in singles and 4-11 in doubles. The Stags will take on two more top five teams and three in the top-20 over the next ten days. Next up is West Region rival UC Santa Cruz (5-4), this Saturday, March 25 at 10 a.m. at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, followed by a match with NAIA opponent Arizona Christian (11-6) at 3 p.m.
#2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #5 Chicago (2)
March 23, 2017 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center) Stag-Hen Championship
Doubles
1. Daniel Morkovine / Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Ninan Kumar / Erik Kerrigan (Chicago) 8-6
2. Tyler Raclin / Max Hawkins (Chicago) def. Glenn Hull / Nikolai Parodi (CMS) 8-4
3. Charlie Pei / Bobby Bethke (Chicago) def. Jake Berber / Jake Williams (CMS) 8-3
Singles
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Nicolas Chua (Chicago) 6-1, 7-5
2. Glenn Hull (CMS) def. Charlie Pei (Chicago) 6-2, 6-2
3. Daniel Morkovine (CMS) def. Luke Tsai (Chicago) 6-3, 6-4
4. Patrick Wildman (CMS) def. Erik Kerrigan (Chicago) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Daniel Park (CMS) def. Ninan Kumar (Chicago) 7-5, 6-2
6. Max Macey (CMS) def. Peter Leung (Chicago) 6-2, 6-4
Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 2, 1, 6, 3, 4, 5
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