Stags Take 3rd at NCAAs With Win Over Wash U
CMS Men's Tennis won the 3rd Place Match at the NCAA Team Championships in Oberlin, OH on Thursday, as they defeated #7 Washington University in St. Louis 5-2. The Stags won two of three doubles for the first time in three days, and then held on for singles victories at #2, #5, and #6 to clinch the dual match. CMS finishes #3 in the nation for the second time in the last three years.
Rebounding from a tough 5-4 loss to Amherst in the semifinals, CMS responded with some of their toughest play to capture the third place match against a strong Wash U team. The pivotal doubles match was at #1, where Robbie Erani (So. - New York, NY) and Ronald Wu (Jr. - Los Altos, CA) were looking to end a three-match losing streak against one of the best doubles teams in the nation. Down 6-3 and two service breaks, and then 4-6 and two break points on Wu's serve, it looked as if CMS would trail 2-1 heading into the singles for the third straight day. However, Erani and Wu battled back to 7-all, then held Erani's serve for an 8-7 lead. On their first match point, CMS' #1 converted to give the Stags the 2-1 lead.
With some momentum going into singles, and a lineup that had earned at least three singles wins in each of its last important dual matches, CMS knew they would be tough to beat. Senior captain Mikey Lim (Honolulu, HI), and freshmen dynamic duo Alex Johnson (Thousand Oaks, CA) and Mac Cahill (Southport, CT), all won comfortable first sets at the #2, #5, and #6 poistions. As the match progressed, Johnson and Cahill completed straight set wins - their 21st each on the season - and Erani was beaten by eventual NCAA singles champion John Watts at #1, as the Stags got to within one match of victory at 4-2.
Lim got a late break in the second set at #2, while Eric MacColl (Sr. - Greenbrae, CA) had erased a one-set deficit and led 4-1 in the third set at #3. Meanwhile, junior Russell Brockett (Austin, TX) rallied from a 4-1 hole in the second set to even his #4 singles match at 4-all. Captain Lim needed four match points before serving out the match and clinching the team victory for the Stags.
CMS ends its season with a 24-6 overall record, ranked #3 in NCAA Division III.
#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #7
Washington Univ in St. Louis (2)
May 27, 2010 at Oberlin, OH (Don Hunsinger Courts) - NCAA
3rd Place Match
Doubles
1. Robbie Erani / Ronald Wu (CMS) def. Isaac Stein / Max Woods
(Wash U) 9-7
2. John Watts / Kareem Farah (Wash U) def. Eric
MacColl / Brandon Wei (CMS) 8-2
3. Russell Brockett / Mikey Lim (CMS) def. Danny Levy / Cameron
Chiang (Wash U) 8-5
Singles
1. John Watts (Wash U) def. Robbie Erani (CMS) 6-1, 6-2
2. Mikey Lim (CMS) def. Isaac Stein (Wash U) 6-3, 6-3
3. Eric MacColl (CMS) vs. Adam Putterman (Wash U) 4-6, 6-3, 4-1
DNF
4. Russell Brockett (CMS) vs. Max Woods (Wash U) 6-7(5), 4-4
DNF
5. Alex Johnson (CMS) def. Danny Levy (Wash U) 6-3, 6-3
6. Mac Cahill (CMS) def. Kareem Farah (Wash U) 6-2, 6-2
Order of
completion
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 1, 5, 6, 2