Stags Claim SCIAC Regular Season After Pair of Saturday Wins
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team wrapped up their regular season dual slate on Saturday with a pair of victories. In the morning, the Stags went on the road and defeated the No. 34 Caltech Beavers by an 8-1 final before handling NCAA Division II UC San Diego 6-3 at home in the afternoon. The victory over Caltech runs their SCIAC record to a perfect 7-0, and the Stags are guaranteed home court advantage in the SCIAC tournament which begins on Friday, May 4.
Sophomore Nikolai Parodi (CMC) won four matches on Saturday, including three tie-break sets at No. 1 singles. Parodi and partner Julian Gordy (CMC) earned their 16th and 17th dual match wins at No. 1 doubles to anchor another dominant doubles day for the Stags. Sophomore Oscar Burney (CMC) was also a four match winner in CMS' wins over Caltech and UCSD. Burney had to come back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set against Caltech, but then won 11 of the next 12 games for his 18th win of the season. Against UCSD, Burney's win at No. 3 was the clincher, his seventh straight singles victory. Burney partnered freshman Jack Katzman (CMC) at No. 2 doubles, and the duo ran their record to 20-3 in dual matches with two more victories.
CMS displayed its singles depth by using four different players at Nos. 5-6 in the two dual matches. Sophomore Matthew Jacobs (CMC) notched his 14th win of the season at No. 6 against Caltech. Jacobs' win put the Stags up 4-0 before Burney would clinch for the first of two times on the day. Freshman Robert Liu (CMC) similarly won in straight sets at the No. 6 position against UCSD, giving the Stags a 3-1 lead. Junior Avinash Vemuri also picked up a big win at No. 5 against the Tritons. Vemuri earned his 20th victory of the season in three sets, and has now won 11 consecutive matches.
Parodi and Gordy will represent CMS at the 118th Annual Ojai Tournament in the D3 singles and doubles events. Parodi is the defending singles champion and will be the top seed in singles, while Gordy and Parodi will be the top seeds in the 16 team doubles field. The Stags advance to the post season and will host fourth seed Cal Lutheran on Friday, May 4 in the first round of the SCIAC tournament.
#5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8) vs. #34 Caltech (1)
April 21, 2018 at Pasadena, CA (Caltech Tennis Courts)
Doubles
1. Julian Gordy / Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Varun Shanker / James Wei (CALTECH) 8-5
2. Oscar Burney Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Derik Nguyen / Zixiao Li (CALTECH) 8-4
3. Robert Liu / Daniel Park (CMS) def. Kevin Yu / Miha Valencic (CALTECH) 8-4
Singles
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Varun Shanker (CALTECH) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
2. Jack Katzman (CMS) def. James Wei (CALTECH) 4-6, 7-5, (11-9)
3. Oscar Burney (CMS) def. Kevin Yu (CALTECH) 7-5, 6-1
4. Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Derik Nguyen (CALTECH) 7-6 (5), 6-3
5. Miha Valencic (CALTECH) def. Jay Yeam (CMS) 6-0, 6-4
6. Matthew Jacobs (CMS) def. Zixiao Li (CALTECH) 6-4, 6-2
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 6, 5, 3, 1, 4, 2
#5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6) vs. UC San Diego (3)
April 21, 2018 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Julian Gordy / Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Eric Tseng / Justin Zhang (UCSD) 8-2
2. Oscar Burney Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Neil Tengbumroong / Eskil Jarlskog (UCSD) 8-6
3. Marc Isaia / Richard Han (UCSD) def. Robert Liu / Jake Williams (CMS) 8-5
Singles
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Eric Tseng (UCSD) 6-3, 7-6 (8)
2. Justin Zhang (UCSD) def. Jack Katzman (CMS) 7-6, 3-6, (10-6)
3. Oscar Burney (CMS) def. Marc Isaia (UCSD) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Eskil Jarlskog (UCSD) def. Julian Gordy (CMS) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Avinash Vemuri (CMS) def. Neil Tengbumroong (UCSD) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Robert Liu (CMS) def. Richard Han (UCSD) 6-4, 6-2
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 6, 1, 3, 5, 4, 2
