Ethan Carroll Finishes as Ojai Singles Runner-Up for CMS Men's Tennis

OJAI, Calif. - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior Ethan Carroll went to three sets in the Division III singles championship match at the 120th Annual Ojai Tennis Tournament on Sunday afternoon, but came up just short to Mukund Madabhushi of Pomona-Pitzer, finishing as the singles runner-up for the second time his senior season.

Carroll's first runner-up finish came in the fall to his own teammate, as he met Robert Liu in the singles finals of the ITA West Regionals, before Liu was able to prevail in the Stag vs. Stag match-up. This time around, Carroll jumped out to a quick lead with a 6-2 win in the first set of the Ojai finals, before Madabhushi swung the momentum with a 6-1 win in the second set. The third set was tight the whole way, but Madabhushi was able to take a 5-4 lead and earn the decisive game for a 6-4 victory.

Carroll moved on to the finals with a tough battle against Andre Mardirossian of UC Santa Cruz in the semis on Saturday afternoon. Carroll dropped the first set in a tiebreaker (8-6) after failing to convert an early servce break, and then a set point at 6-5 in the tie-break. Carroll responded with a 6-1 win in the second set, and then earned a 10-4 decision in the match tie-break.

Carroll moved easily through the opening rounds on Friday, defeating Michael Campbell of Pacific Lutheran 6-2, 6-1, and Spencer Cinco of Whittier 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday. His 6-2, 6-1 win over second-seeded Caleb Wilkins of Chapman in the quarterfinals was his second of the year over the now No. 3 ranked player in the West Region. 

CMS had won the last six Ojai D3 singles championships, but came up just short in its bid for seven in a row. The Stags will now turn their attention to closing out the regular season at home on Saturday against Redlands and San Diego Christian, before the SCIAC Tournament and NCAA Regionals in the first two weeks of May.