Stags enter SCIAC Tourney as team to beat
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team earned the top seed going into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships May 5-7 hosted by Pomona-Pitzer. The Stags were a perfect 7-0 in SCIAC play and are currently ranked No. 3 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
No. 1 CMS hosts No. 8 Occidental in the first round of the tournament on Friday, May 5 at 3 p.m. Then the entire field then moves to the blue courts of Pomona-Pitzer for competition on Saturday and Sunday. There will be no admission charged at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center on Friday, but then regular SCIAC Postseason admission will be charged on the weekend days. General admission is $10, seniors and military are $5, and children and anyone with an ID from a SCIAC institution get in for free.
Due to potential rain, please follow along on Twitter (@AthleticsCMS) for any schedule changes.
The Stags are competing for the 12th SCIAC Championship in a row and 25th in program history. CMS has had dominating success all season and only allowed seven points in dual match play: five doubles and two singles. Only Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer managed more than one team point against the Stags in conference competition.
Senior captains Glenn Hull (CMC) and Daniel Morkovine (CMC) are poised for their fourth conference championships. Hull is listed as the No. 4 singles player in the region while Morkovine is No. 20 in singles and pairs with sophomore Julian Gordy (CMC) to be the No. 2 doubles team in the West.
Morkovine recently paired with freshman Nikolai Parodi (CMC) for the doubles championship at The Ojai last weekend. Hull has seen success in partnering with freshman Jake Berber (CMC) and won seven of their last nine matches. Also making appearances in the doubles line up have been the freshmen Jake Williams (HMC), Daniel Park (CMC) and senior Max Macey (CMC).
The Stags' singles play has been unflappable during the 2017 campaign. As a freshman, Parodi competed his way into the coveted No. 1 position and has only lost once in SCIAC play. Parodi earned the comeback victory over Morkovine in the all-CMS singles finals at The Ojai. Morkovine has played at No. 2 and No. 3 throughout the season and currently holds a 17-4 record in dual match competition. Playing consistently in the No. 2 position, Hull is undefeated against Division III opponents this season. The remainder of the Stags' singles lineup has shifted from match to match, but Macey and Park have been mainstays with 19-1 and 16-5 records respectively. Junior Patrick Wildman (CMC) at 13-1 and senior Alex Brenner (CMC) at 11-2 have also stepped in on occasion to bolster the middle and lower half of the lineup.
Looking at the rest of the conference, the SCIAC has seven other top-25 singles players and four other top-15 doubles teams in the West Region. In addition to the Stags, three more SCIAC programs are ranked in the top-40 nationally: No. 11 University of Redlands, No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 38 Whittier.
By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director
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