Men's Tennis Falls to Cougars

Freshman Alex Johnson (Thousand Oaks, CA [pictured right]) completed a red hot April with a straight set win against Azusa Pacific on Friday. Johnson, playing at #5 singles, accounted for the Stags' only singles win of the afternoon, as CMS fell to 5th ranked APU 7-2. Johnson completed April with a 6-1 singles record and the loss of only two sets.

Despite losing two of three doubles pro-sets, CMS held break advantages at the #2 and #3 positions at the midway point of both matches. Ojai Champs Eric MacColl (Sr. - Greenbrae, CA) and Brandon Wei (So. - Lake Oswego, OR) moved up to the #2 spot and led 5-4, but couldn't hold on to win their 20th match of the season as a team. Senior captain Mikey Lim (Honolulu, HI) and Russell Brockett (Jr. - Austin, TX) won for the second time in two matches, this time at the #3 spot. Brockett and Lim needed only one service break in an 8-6 victory that got CMS its first point of the afternoon.

CMS stayed close in five of the six singles matches. After APU had won at #3 and #6 to put the Cougars up 4-1, Johnson's 7-5, 6-2 win at #5 kept the Stags alive and within a two point margin. Playing against the 6th and 16th best NAIA singles players in the country at #1 and #2 respectively, sophomore Robbie Erani (New York, NY) and Lim pushed their opponents to three sets but came up short. Similarly, Brockett fought hard but lost a tight two set battle at #4 singles.

The Stags preparation for the opening rounds of the Division III NCAA team championship continues next week at Point Loma Nazarene, where they will face another nationally ranked NAIA team. CMS takes on #12 PLNU in San Diego at 2:00 PM next Friday, May 7. The Division III team championships begin May 14-16, and it is expected that CMS will host a 4-6 team regional at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

Video Highights: Brockett / Lim at #3 Doubles

#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2 vs. #5 Azusa Pacific University 7
April 30, 2010 at Claremont, Calif. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Matthijs Bolsius / Jochem Hoefnagels (APU) def. Robbie Erani / Ronald Wu (CMS) 8-4
2. Mathias Weber / Janosch Apelt (APU) def. Eric MacColl / Brandon Wei (CMS) 8-5
3. Mikey Lim / Russell Brockett (CMS) def. Alex Lane / Ronald Chow (APU) 8-6

Singles
1. Matthijs Bolsius (APU) def. Robbie Erani (CMS)  4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Janosch Apelt (APU) def. Mikey Lim (CMS) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3. Alex Lane (APU) def. Eric MacColl (CMS) 6-1, 6-2
4. Jochem Hoefnagels (APU) def. Russell Brockett (CMS) 7-6(2), 6-4
5. Alex Johnson (CMS) def. Mathias Weber (APU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Ronald Chow (APU) def. Ronald Wu (CMS) 6-4, 6-4

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