Stags Advance to SCIAC Final

CMS Stags Tennis advanced to the final of the SCIAC Championships on Friday with a 7-2 win over #19 Cal Lutheran. The Stags will face #8 Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, just a week after defeating the Sagehens in the last regular season conference dual match.

Sophomore Alex Lane (Claremont, CA [pictured]) made the most of his rematch with Cal Lutheran's Andrew Giuffrida at the #1 singles spot. Lane - who lost in three tough sets to Giuffrida on April 2nd in Thousand Oaks - was a 6-4, 7-5 winner on Friday. After winning the first set, Lane trailed 5-4 with Giuffrida serving for the set. Lane won 11 of the next 12 points to give himself two match points, later converting on his third match point for the win. Lane and partner Brandon Wei (Jr. - Lake Oswego, OR) won their 16th dual match against only three losses this spring at #2 doubles. Lane and Wei were the only Stags winners in doubles.

Trailing 2-1 after doubles, CMS was buoyed by strong singles play from the middle of the lineup. Junior Robbie Erani (New York, NY) got the match even at #2 singles, winning the first set 6-2 and forcing his opponent to retire. Senior captain Ronald Wu (Los Altos, CA) continued his torrid streak with his eighth straight and 18th overall win this spring at the #5 position. Fellow senior Russell Brockett (Austin, TX) was also an easy winner at #4, giving the Stags a 4-2 advantage from which they never looked back.

CMS advances to its sixth straight SCIAC tournament final on Saturday at 10:00 AM at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Stags are now 23-3 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. #19 Cal Lutheran (2)
April 22, 2011 at Claremont, CA (Pauley Tennis Complex) - SCIAC Tournament Semifinal

Doubles
1. Andrew Giuffrida / Ray Worley (Cal Lu) def. Zhenya Pereverzin / Ronald Wu (CMS) 8-5
2. Alex Lane / Brandon Wei (CMS) def. Justin Wilson / Cody Kowalczyk (Cal Lu)  8-4
3. Marcelo Sousa / Ben Inchalik (Cal Lu) def. Russell Brockett / Robbie Erani (CMS) 9-7

Singles
1. Alex Lane (CMS) def. Andrew Giuffrida (Cal Lu) 6-4, 7-5
2. Robbie Erani (CMS) def. Justin Wilson (Cal Lu) 6-2, Ret
3. Alex Johnson (CMS) def. Ray Worley (Cal Lu) 6-3, 6-3
4. Russell Brockett (CMS) def. Marcelo Sousa (Cal Lu) 6-0, 6-1
5. Ronald Wu (CMS) def. Cody Kowalczyk (Cal Lu) 6-0, 6-1
6. Mac Cahill (CMS) def. Ben Inchalik (Cal Lu) 6-7(4), 6-2, (10-8)

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