CMS Men's Tennis to Play in Prestigious Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team will open its 2018-19 season in two weeks, when it travels to play in the third annual Hall of Fame Intercollegiate Tennis Association Grass Court Invitational from Sept. 14-16, which will be held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

The eight-team tournament features four Division III men's programs and four Division III women's programs, and is the only grass court tournament sponsored by the ITA. CMS will be competing on the men's side of the event with Bowdoin College, Trinity (Texas) University, and Wahsington (Mo.) University. 

CMS is coming off a 30-4 season a year ago, which saw it advance to the NCAA Division III Championship weekend with a regional finals win over Trinity. It marked the ninth straight season that the Stags have won the NCAA West Regional, including the 2015 season, when they went on to win their second NCAA Division III national title in program history. 

This year, CMS hopes to challenge for the top spot in Division III again, as it returns its entire roster from a year ago, with the exception of Patrick Wildman (CMC '18), who only played in two singles matches last year due to injury. Among the full roster of returners, Jack Katzman (CMC '21), who played No. 2 singles most of the year, finished as the runner-up in the NCAA Division III singles championships last year as a freshman, falling to Bowdoin's Grant Urken in the finals, who will be with the Polar Bears in Newport for a potential rematch on grass.

Nikolai Parodi (CMC '20), who played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Stags, advanced to the quarterfinals in the NCAA Division III singles championships last year as well, while Parodi and Julian Gordy (CMC '19) were the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Division III doubles championships. Gordy, who played No. 4 singles last year, and Oscar Burney (CMC '20), who played No. 3, joined Katzman and Parodi in earning first-team All-SCIAC honors. 

The field will be challenging at the Hall of Fame Invitational, as Washington University and Bowdoin both won regional championships last year and met each other in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals, with Bowdoin prevailing 5-0. The Polar Bears advanced to the championship match, before finishing as the runner-up with a 5-3 loss to Middlebury in the finals. 

For more information on the Hall of Fame Intercollegiate Tennis Association Grass Court Invitational, go to the event's home page at the following link:

Hall of Fame Invitational