Jack Katzman Wins Second Straight SCIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore Jack Katzman earned the SCIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week honor for the second week in a row for matches through Sunday, March 3, the league office announced today.

Katzman repeated thanks to a strong performance at both the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships on Friday and in a pair of dual matches on Sunday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. 

At the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships in La Jolla, Katzman and sophomore Robert Liu won three matches to advance to the Round of 16 in an event that features both collegiate athletes and independent teams of college graduates. The duo started with a win over David Higgins and Marius Ruh of UC San Diego, and after defeating an independent team, Katzman and Liu knocked off UCLA's No. 3 doubles team of Bryce Periera and Patrick Zahraj (seeded eighth in the tournament) in the third round.

The run finally ended with an 8-6 defeat to the No. 4 seed, featuring Cal-Berkeley associate head coach (and former Cal player Tyler Browne) and Cornell alumnus Nick Brunner, but the duo almost matched the furthest a Stag team has ever advanced at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships. Warren Wood and Joe Dorn made it to the Pacific Coast quarterfinals back in 2013 before finally falling to the eventual runner-up from USC. 

With the doubles tournament in the books, Katzman returned to dual play with just as much success, teaming with Liu for an 8-1 win in doubles against No. 19 Mary Washington on Sunday. He then moved up to the No. 1 spot in the singles ladder for the nightcap against No. 34 Christopher Newport and dominated with a 6-1, 6-1 win. 

Katzman and the Stags will be back in action on Sunday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center for a rare tripleheader, with a unique twist. CMS will face one team from all three NCAA Divisions, opening up against Division III RPI at 9 a.m. in the morning, and then resuming play in the afternoon against Division I Quinnipiac and Division II Western New Mexico at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.