Christian Settles celebrates after punching CMS' NCAA ticket, which could see him face his former teammates

Posted: May 01, 2023

CMS Men's Tennis Hosts NCAA Regionals Friday and Saturday

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team will serve as a host for the NCAA Division III Regionals at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center on Friday and Saturday.

CMS, which is ranked No. 6 in the country, will battle UC Santa Cruz in the first semifinal at 10 a.m., while Trinity (Texas) and Concordia (Texas) will meet in the second semifinal at 2 p.m. The two regional semifinal winners will advance to Saturday's regional championship match at 12 noon.

The Stags earned the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships for the 16th season in a row by defeating Caltech 5-0 in the SCIAC finals on Saturday. The Stags fought off Pomona-Pitzer 5-2 in the semis (after a 5-4 win over the Sagehens in the regular season finale) and continued its unbeaten streak in SCIAC-sponsored matches to 153, which dates back to 2005.

CMS has won its NCAA Regional and advanced to nationals in 11 straight seasons, after defeating Pomona-Pitzer 5-0 in the finals a year ago. The Stags fell to Tufts in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Orlando last year 5-3, but have reached the championship match five times in its last nine seasons, including a national title in 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2019 before the 2020 and 2021 seasons were lost due to the pandemic.

The Stags met UC Santa Cruz during the regular season, earning a 7-2 win back on March 30. CMS took a 2-1 lead after doubles, and then won in straight sets at the first five singles lines to get the win.

Trinity is ranked No. 8 in the country in the most recent ITA rankings and could create a top-10 battle for the regional finals if the Tigers and CMS both advance. The two teams did not meet this season, with the Stags earning the last meeting 7-2 in the championship of the Stag-Hen Invitational in 2022. Both rosters have changed a lot since then - in fact, CMS graduate student Christian Settles, who plays No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles for the Stags, was a member of Trinity's team last season and earned an 8-7 win against CMS at No. 1 doubles, but fell to Matthew Robinson at No. 4 singles, who is now his doubles partner.

The winner of the Saturday regional finals will advance to the NCAA Division III Nationals (quarterfinals and on), which will be held in Orlando, Florida at the USTA National Campus from May 13-17.