CMS Men's Tennis Gets Back on Winning Track, Defeats Williams and George Fox

CLAREMONT, Calif. - A day after dropping a tight 5-4 decision to Middlebury, the third-ranked CMS men's tennis team bounced back with a pair of impressive wins over ranked teams, defeating No. 6 Williams 6-3 and then knocking off No. 18 George Fox 7-2.

With the wins, CMS moves to 14-3 on the year, as it responded less than 24 hours after seeing its eight-match win streak snapped.

Philip Martin played both matches at No. 1 singles, and picked up a big win over Chase Cohen of Williams, who came in ranked No. 2 in the country in singles. He also played at No. 1 doubles with Nathan Arimilli, the first time they've played together since reaching the national finals of the ITA Cup in October (other than a match against USC which was not completed in January) and picked up a pair of wins. 

Martin and Arimilli earned an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles against Williams for the first point, as the Stags swept doubles to take a big advantage heading into singles. Jack Katzman and Matthew Robinson added an 8-5 win at No. 2, and Ethan Carroll and Christopher Li earned a tiebreaker win at No. 3, sweeping all seven points to give CMS the 3-0 lead. 

The doubles advantage would prove to be significant as the teams split the six singles matches. Williams won the first two to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Katzman rolled to a dominant second set at No. 3, winning 7-6, 6-0 after a strong 7-3 performance in the first-set tiebreaker. 

Arimilli then earned the clinch at No. 6, while playing in only his fourth singles match of the year, two of which came in the ITA West Regionals in October, and the third coming against USC in January. Arimilli followed a similar path, winning a tiebreaker in the first set (9-7) and then controlling the second set 6-1 to get CMS its fifth point. 

Martin then added an extra point with an impressive comeback win against Cohen, dropping the first set but controlling the second and third for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win. 

CMS held a 2-1 lead after doubles against George Fox, with Martin and Arimilli winning again 8-5, and Katzman and Robinson earning their second doubles win of the day as well 8-3.

Robinson and Katzman then earned quick singles wins (6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 and 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3, respectively) to put CMS on the verge of a clinch. Li then capped it off with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 4, moments before Martin added his second singles win of the day at No. 1, defeating Will Leach 6-1, 6-3. Michael Hao closed out the match with a 7-5, 7-6 win at No. 5, winning the tiebreaker 7-4.

CMS will be back in action next weekend for two SCIAC matches, hosting Caltech on Friday at 3 p.m., and then facing Cal Lutheran on the road on Saturday, before adding a road match at Westmont on Saturday afternoon as well. 

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6) vs. Williams (3)
March 26, 2022 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Philip Martin/Nathan Arimilli (CMS) def. Matt Kandel/Chase Cohen (WILL) 8-4
2. Jack Katzman/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Shawn Berdia/Karan Amin (WILL) 8-5
3. Ethan Carroll/Christopher Li (CMS) def. Michael Medvedev/Jack Truwit (WILL) 8-7(0)

Singles
1. Philip Martin (CMS) def. Chase Cohen (WILL) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Matt Kandel (WILL) def. Matthew Robinson (CMS) 6-2, 6-0
3. Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Karan Amin (WILL) 7-6(3), 6-0
4. Shawn Berdia (WILL) def. Christopher Li (CMS) 6-0, 6-2
5. Michael Medvedev (WILL) def. Ethan Carroll (CMS) 6-4, 6-7(6), (10-7)
6. Nathan Arimilli (CMS) def. Kirun Chung (WILL) 7-6(8), 6-1

Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 2, 4, 3, 6, 1, 5

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7) vs. George Fox (2)
March 26, 2022 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Nathan Arimilli/Philip Martin (CMS) def. Will Leach/Luke Lemaitre (GFU) 8-5
2. Jack Katzman/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Ryan Olson/Rox Rogers (GFU) 8-3
3. Camden Camacho/Vahag Pashayan (GFU) def. Ethan Carroll/Christopher Li (CMS) 8-6

Singles
1. Philip Martin (CMS) def. Will Leach (GFU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Rox Rogers (GFU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Luis Rojas (GFU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Christopher Li (CMS) def. Vahag Pashayan (GFU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Michael Hao (CMS) def. Camden Camacho (GFU) 7-5, 7-6(4)
6. Ryan Olson (GFU) def. Ian Habbestad (CMS) 2-6, 6-4, (10-5)

Order of completion
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 2, 3, 4, 1, 6, 5