Freshman Nic Meister won at No. 6 singles to clinch CMS' 5-0 victory over Trinity University on Saturday
Freshman Nic Meister won at No. 6 singles to clinch CMS' 5-0 victory over Trinity University on Saturday

No. 1 Men's Tennis Advances to Tenth Straight NCAA Elite Eight, Defeats No. 13 Trinity 5-0

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 1-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Division III Team Quarterfinals with a 5-0 victory over No. 13 Trinity University on Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Stags advance to their tenth straight NCAA Elite Eight and will face No. 8 Bowdoin in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Monday, May 20.

CMS' win over Trinity in the Round of 16 on Saturday was nearly identical to their 2nd round win against UT Dallas on the previous day. The Stags earned their fifth straight doubles sweep with comfortable wins at No. 1 and No. 2, but had to come back from 7-3 down and save a match point at 7-4 in order to claim third doubles. Daniel Park (CMC) and Oscar Burney (CMC) won their tenth straight at No. 2, breaking serve early and maintaining a two break margin for an 8-4 win. Nikolai Parodi (CMC) and Julian Gordy (CMC) asserted themselves as the top team in the region, defeating Wilson Lambeth and Jordan Pitts 8-3 to give CMS a 2-0 lead. Jack Katzman (CMC) and Robert Liu (CMC) needed some heroics at No. 3 doubles as they worked their way back from two breaks and a match point down to prevail 8-7(4) at No. 3.

In singles, Parodi and freshman Nic Meister (CMC) again provided straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 6 respectively. It was Parodi's twentieth singles victory of the spring, his third straight season in which he has won twenty or more sigles matches. Meister earned his eighteenth win in twenty matches and got his second clinch in as many days. The Stags led at No. 2 (Katzman), No. 3 (Gordy), and No. 5 (Park) when Meister clinched at No. 6.

CMS will face Bowdoin for the second time this season, having defeated them in the championship match of the Stag-Hen Invitational on March 16. In that match, the Stags trailed 2-1 after doubles but won at all six singles positions for a 7-2 final. Kalamazoo was the site of Bowdoin's NCAA title in 2016, where they defeated Johns Hopkins, Emory, and Middlebury. CMS has never faced Bowdoin in the NCAA tournament

#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. # 13 Trinity University (0)
May 11, 2019 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center) - NCAA 3rd Round

Doubles
1. Julian Gordy / Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Wilson Lambeth / Jordan Pitts (TU) 8-3
2. Daniel Park / Oscar Burney (CMS) def. Cameron Krimbill / Arturo Zigman (TU) 8-4
3. Robert Liu / Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Wilson Hamilton / Christian Settles (TU) 8-7(4)

Singles
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Wilson Lambeth (TU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Jack Katzman (CMS) vs. Jordan Pitts (TU) 6-2, 2-2 DNF
3. Julian Gordy (CMS) vs. Cameron Krimbill (TU) 6-0, 5-2 DNF
4. Robert Liu (CMS) vs. Wilson Hamilton (TU) 6-6 (3-2) DNF
5. Daniel Park (CMS) vs. Jace Akagi-Okuma (TU) 6-4, 3-0 DNF
6. Nic Meister (CMS) def. Tilden Oliver (TU) 6-1, 6-3

Order of completion
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 1, 6