Nikolai Parodi Named SCIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Nikolai Parodi was named the SCIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week after helping the Stags defeat the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 teams in the country in a span of five days, the league office announced today.

Parodi was undefeated on the week, going 4-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles, as he helped the No. 4 ranked Stags make their claim for the top spot when the new poll comes out next week. CMS improved to 17-1 with its four wins this week, with the only loss a road defeat at Amherst to close out its Spring Break trip last week. 

In a 6-3 win over No. 5 Williams on Tuesday, Parodi took a 6-3, 6-4 win in singles to start his big week. he then dominated two nationally ranked singles opponents on the same day, defeating No. 16 Jeremy Yuan of Chicago 6-2, 6-0 on Friday, helping the Stags to a 6-3 win over the top-ranked Maroons. In the afternoon nightcap, Parodi took the court again to face Chad LeDuff of UC Santa Cruz, the second-ranked singles player in the nation and the ITA West Region champion in the fall, and won that match 6-2, 6-2. 

On Saturday, Parodi capped off his week by teaming with senior Julian Gordy for an 8-1 win in doubles against No. 2 Middlebury, and then won his match at No. 1 singles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to finish off the week 6-0. 

The Stags have now won the SCIAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week five times this season from four different players. Sophomore Jack Katzman won it two weeks in a row in late February and early March, while sophomore Robert Liu and junior Daniel Park have won it each of the last two weeks.

CMS will be back in action on Friday when it opens SCIAC play at Chapman, before returning home on Saturday to meet Gustavus Adolphus (10 a.m.) and Whittier (3 p.m.).