Men’s Tennis Comes Back to Beat ‘Nova 5-4

CMS rallied from 3-0 and 4-2 down in matches to defeat Villanova University on Monday for the Stags second straight 5-4 victory. After a disappointing showing in the doubles where the Stags were swept for the first time this season, the team found its rhythm in the singles and won at five of the six positions to secure the victory. Sophomore Ronald Wu (Los Altos, CA) won the deciding match at the fifth singles position, hanging on for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

At #1 and #3 doubles, the Stags found themselves behind early and had to battle back to keep both contests close. At #1 doubles, seniors Guillaume Schils (Shaker Heights, OH) and Lawrence Wang (Orange, CA) broke back to 5-6, before dropping the final two games. At #3 doubles, freshman Robbie Erani (New York, NY) and junior Mikey Lim (Honolulu, HI) won four consecutive games and overcame two breaks, but fell 8-6. Junior Eric MacColl (Greenbrae, CA) and Wu teamed for the first time since the fall of 2007. The Stags’ #2 pair led 7-5 and then served for the match at 7-6, before losing 9-7, which completed the sweep for Villanova.

In the singles, CMS quickly narrowed the deficit to one match, with freshman Victor Chien (Diamond Bar, CA) and Lim dropping only three total games between them at #4 and #6. After CMS lost at #3 singles, Villanova took a 4-2 lead and needed only one more win to clinch the match. Erani was the next Stag to win at #2 singles, cutting the lead to 4-3. Wang followed with a straight set win at #1 singles to tie the match, setting up the decisive match at #5. Wu played a very tough third set, breaking serve in the fifth and ninth games to earn the win.

CMS is now 9-1 overall and plays at home against three nationally ranked teams this weekend. On Friday the Stags take on 10th ranked University of Mary Washington at 1:00 PM. Then on Saturday, the Stags play 8th ranked Kenyon College at 9:30 AM and then 21st ranked UT-Tyler at 2:00 PM.

  
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5 vs Villanova 4
March 2, 2009 at CMS (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Alex Leeser / John Drosick (VU) def. Guillaume Schils / Lawrence Wang (CMS) 8-5
2. Trenton Alenik / Zach Siegler (VU) def. Eric MacColl / Ronald Wu (CMS) 9-7
3. Alex Hanno / Mike Taylor (VU) def. Robbie Erani / Mikey Lim (CMS) 8-6

Singles
1. Lawrence Wang (CMS) def. Alex Leeser (VU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Robbie Erani (CMS) def. Brian Maher (VU) 6-1, 6-3
3. David Shaheen (VU) def. Russell Brockett (CMS) 6-2, 6-2
4. Mikey Lim (CMS) def. Trenton Alenik (VU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Ronald Wu (CMS) def. Mike Taylor (VU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Victor Chien (CMS) def. Alex Hanno (VU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5