Nikolai Parodi, Jack Katzman Finish 2018-19 Ranked in Top Five in Singles by ITA

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Nikolai Parodi ended the 2018-19 season ranked No. 4 nationally in singles, while sophomore Jack Katzman held down the No. 5 spot in the final NCAA Division III rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Parodi and senior Julian Gordy also ended the year ranked No. 4 nationally in doubles, while Gordy was ranked in singles in the No. 43 position. As a team, the Stags finished ranked No. 2, behind only Emory, which defeated CMS 5-3 in the national championship match on May 22. 

Parodi and Katzman have finished the year ranked in the top five in every one of their collegiate seasons in singles. Parodi finished his freshman and sophomore seasons both ranked No. 2 in the nation, while Katzman was ranked No. 3 after his freshman campaign a year ago. Parodi finished as the national runner-up in singles as a freshman, and reached the semifinal a year ago, while Katzman was the national runner-up last season. 

This year, both secured All-America honors in singles by advancing in the NCAA Division III Singles Championships, with Parodi reaching the quarterfinals for the third year in a row. He picked up a pair of straight-set wins over Daniel Levine of Carnegie Mellon and Chase Lipscomb of SCIAC rival Redlands, before dropping his quarterfinal to Bernardo Neves of WashU (7-6, 6-3).

Katzman won his first NCAA singles match over Patrick Whaling of Gustavus Adolphus, before falling to Sean Wei of Amherst in the Round of 16, his first singles loss in the entire spring. Katzman finished the year with a 29-3 singles record, with one of the losses coming on grass at the ITA Grasscourt Championships in the fall to Grant Urken of Bowdoin (and the other coming in the ITA West Regionals in the fall to Chad LeDuff of UC Santa Cruz). His dual record this season was 22-0, including 7-0 playing at No. 1 and 15-0 while playing No. 2. 

With the No. 4 ranking in doubles, Gordy earns All-America honors in doubles for the third straight season. He had a team-high 31 doubles wins, including the championship of the Ojai Tournament with Parodi. He also picked up 20 wins in singles to finish the year ranked in singles for the first time in his career. 

Parodi, Katzman, and Gordy played 1-2-3 for the Stags in singles, helping the program to a 33-2 record and a No. 1 ranking in the ITA poll for the final six weeks before NCAA Championship play began. They also led the Stags to their fifth NCAA Division III Championship match in the last eight years, with Parodi and Gordy contributing to two of them (2017, 2019).