Stags Close Out Regular Season With Win at Point Loma

CMS Men's Tennis picked up its 20th win of the season in a 5-4 victory over Point Loma Nazarene on Friday. Sophomore Robbie Erani (New York, NY [pictured right]) won at #1 singles and #1 doubles to lead the Stags against the 12th ranked Sea Lions. Erani's two tie-break singles win was also his twentieth of the season.

CMS started off slowly in doubles, falling behind 2-1 with losses at #2 and #3. Erani and Ronald Wu (Jr. - Los Altos, CA) got their 20th win of the season at #1 doubles to keep the Stags close.

As the singles began, CMS knew they could rely on their lower lineup depth, but would need good production from their top three in order to come back and beat the Sea Lions. Sure enough, CMS got straight set wins at #4, #5, and #6 singles, with no Stag yielding more than five games in any one of those matches. Freshman Mac Cahill (Southport, CT) trailed 4-5 in the second set, but won 12 of the last 14 points to secure the victory at #6.

Now up 4-3 in matches with Erani locked in a battle at #1, and senior Eric MacColl (Greenbrae, CA) working his way back after losing the first set at #3, the Stags' chances for an important road win looked promising. Erani clinched in typically dramatic fashion, saving three set points in the second set at 5-6, love-forty down, before winning his twelfth tie-break in thirteen tries this season. Not to be outdone, MacColl fought valiantly down a set and 5-4, breaking at 5-5 and then holding at 6-5 to win the second set. Then, down an early break in the third, MacColl forced the match to a tie-break before falling seven points to five.

CMS finishes the regular season at 20-5 overall, and moves on to the NCAA Division III Team Championships, which begins Thursday, May 13 at CMS' Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5 vs #12 Point Loma Nazarene 4
May 7, 2010 at Point Loma, Calif.

Doubles
1. Robbie Erani / Ronald Wu (CMS) def. Curt Wheeler / Landon Hilker (PLNU) 8-6
2. Joel Myers / Tyler Bowman (PLNU) def. Eric MacColl / Brandon Wei (CMS) 8-3
3. DJ Jaehnig / Travis Albaugh (PLNU) def. Mikey Lim / Russell Brockett (CMS) 8-3

Singles
1. Robbie Erani (CMS) def. Joel Myers (PLNU)  7-6(4), 7-6(5)
2. Curt Wheeler (PLNU) def. Mikey Lim (CMS) 6-2, 6-3
3. Tyler Bowman (PLNU) def. Eric MacColl (CMS) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5)
4. Russell Brockett (CMS) def. DJ Jaehnig (PLNU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Alex Johnson (CMS) def. Trent Brown (PLNU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Mac Cahill (CMS) def. Travis Albaugh (PLNU) 6-0, 7-5

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