Video Tribute: The CMS Men's Tennis Class of 2020

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The five seniors on the CMS men's tennis team had incredible careers, tallying a dual match record of 109-11 over their four seasons. They had one last goal to accomplish, winning a national title, after finishing as the runner-up in both 2017 and 2019. They lost that chance with the suspension of spring sports, but still left an impressive legacy behind.

Over their four seasons, the men's tennis seniors continued the program's legacy of winning every conference match since 2005, going undefeated in regular season and postseason SCIAC play. The Stags were also 10-3 in NCAA Division III Tournament matches, reaching the national championship as both first-years and juniors. They also consistently came up big in big spots. A year ago, current senior Daniel Park had the clincher against No. 1 Chicago in the regular season and current senior Nikolai Parodi had the clincher against Chicago in the NCAA Semifinals.

The Stags were in the hunt for the NCAA Championship this year, holding a national ranking of No. 2 behind Emory at the time the season was suspended, and the two programs were potentially on a collision course to meet again in the finals for the second straight year. 

Hit the play button below for a video tribute to the CMS Men's Tennis Class of 2020:



The CMS Men's Tennis Class of 2020 is as follows:

Jake Berber (Austin, Texas - Claremont McKenna, neuroscience)
Berber earned ITA All-America honors in doubles as a sophomore, when he and classmate Nikolai Parodi won the ITA West Regional doubles championship. He finished his career with a 27-7 singles record and a 45-21 doubles mark, including a perfect 10-0 singles record in an abbreviated senior year. He also carried above a 3.5 GPA as a neuroscience major at Claremont McKenna and was an ITA Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. 

Matthew Jacobs (Swampscott, Mass. - Claremont McKenna, economics and psychology)
Jacobs compiled a 44-15 record in his career, including 33-11 in singles for a .750 winning percentage. He came up big in several key spots for the Stags in his career, including winning the clincher in a 5-4 comeback road victory over MIT last season, part of a junior year in which he tallied a 9-1 record. A dual major in economics and psychology, Jacobs was a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and SCIAC All-Academic team recipient. 

Daniel Park (Bellevue, Wash. - Claremont McKenna, science management)
Park is a two-year team captain and learned this week that he is one of five finalists for the ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award (from among nominees of all divisions and both genders). He graduates ranked No. 3 at CMS in winning percentage in singles at .827 (62-13) and had a combined 125-40 career record in singles and doubles, which ranks seventh. He was 11-1 in singles this year, with the only loss to teammate Nikolai Parodi in the ITA West Semifinals and was 8-0 in duals. 

Nikolai Parodi (Washington, D.C. - Claremont McKenna, economics and psychology)
Parodi played at No. 1 singles almost his entire career for the Stags and ended his career ranked No. 7 in school history with 191 wins, over 100 of which came in singles (105-26), one of only five Stags to ever reach the 100-win mark. He also became only the third Stag to earn All-America honors in both singles and doubles in every one of his four seasons. He was the NCAA Division III singles runner-up in 2017, and also reached the semifinals in 2018 and the quarterfinals in 2019. 

Jake Williams (San Diego, Calif. - Harvey Mudd, computer science and mathematics)
Williams never lost a dual match in singles in his entire career, finishing 21-0 (27-7 overall) after taking a 6-3, 6-2 win over Haverford in his final collegiate match. His doubles record in his career was 52-19. As a senior he was 5-0 in dual matches in singles and 6-0 in doubles when the season was cut short. A dual major in computer science and mathematics, Williams also captured ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in each of his first three seasons.