Parodi and Gordy Defend D3 Singles and Doubles Titles at Ojai
OJAI, Calif. - Junior Nikolai Parodi (CMC) and senior Julian Gordy (CMC) successfully defended their 2018 Ojai Divsion III singles and doubles titles on Sunday. Parodi defeated Redlands' Chase Lipscomb 6-1, 6-1 in the singles final, while Parodi and Gordy defeated Cal Lutheran's Ransom Braaten and Jake Haffner 6-3, 7-5 in the doubles final. Parodi becomes the first player since the inception of the D3 event at Ojai in 1997 to win three consecutive singles and doubles titles and six titles overall. Parodi is now 15-0 in singles and 12-0 with two different partners at Ojai from 2017-2019. His twenty-seven match winning streak is yeat another unmatched feat at the prestigious tournament.
The Stags' top player came into the tournament as the fourth seeded singles player in the field based on the most recent regional NCAA and ITA rankings. Both Parodi and Gordy won their first singles matches on Friday, with Parodi defeating Chapman's Adrian Rooney 6-3, 6-2, and Gordy taking out Linfield's Luis Rojas 6-0, 6-4. In the Round of 16, Parodi advanced with a straight set win over Redlands' Thomas Reznik, but Gordy fell short in a tough three-set match to third seeded Chad LeDuff from UC Santa Cruz. CMS' No. 1 doubles team and top seed in the tournament completed play on Friday with an 8-2 win over Redlands' No. 2 team Reznik and Andrew Yip in the first round.
Saturday's action moved from the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura to the Ojai Valley Athletic Club, where Parodi dismissed Caltech's Miha Valencic 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinal. Parodi faced his most difficult challenge of the tournament in the semifinal, defeating the west's second-ranked player and top seed in the singles, Varun Shanker of Caltech, 7-6(4), 6-3. Similarly, Gordy and Parodi had their most difficult match of the doubles event in the quarters against Cal Lutheran's Yahn Gawrit and Isaiah Volk. The Kingsmen capitalized on a break in the third game, and then saved six break points to take a 7-5 lead against the Stags' top team. Parodi held for 6-7 and then the CMS duo finally broke back to force a decisive tie-break, which they won on their first match point at 6-5. Their semifinal match against fourth seeded LeDuff and Ryan Dugan from UC Santa Cruz was a re-match of their March 29th dual match encounter, narrowly won in a tie-break by Gordy and Parodi. This time the CMS duo yielded an early service break, but answered with two more of their own to earn an 8-5 win and advance to their second consecutive Ojai doubles final.
With all of the final matches moving to Ojai's historic Libbey Park on Sunday, Parodi looked as comfortable and confident as he has all season. His third straight Ojai singles title improves his record to 18-6 this spring and 9-1 in the region. His only regional loss was on April 12 to Lipsomb by a 6-2, 6-2 score in CMS' 8-1 dual match victory over Redlands. Gordy and Parodi improve their record to 18-7 overall and 10-0 against regional opponents.
Next up for the Stags is the SCIAC conference tournament beginning on Friday, May 3. CMS hosts fourth seeded and 25th ranked Caltech at 3 PM at CMS' Biszantz Family Tennis Center.