CMS Men's Tennis Shuts Out Pomona-Pitzer for 11th Straight NCAA Regional Win

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team swept doubles and then got straight-set singles wins from Matthew Robinson (6-3, 6-3 at No. 3) and Robert Liu (6-3, 6-2 at No. 1) to take a 5-0 win over Pomona-Pitzer in the NCAA Regional Finals on Saturday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

With the win, CMS moves to 27-6 on the year and advances to the NCAA Team Championships (Final Eight) in Orlando, Florida from May 23-25. It marks the 11th year in a row that the Stags have reached nationals, after winning regional championships all 10 years from 2010-19 before the two-year break due to the COVID shutdown. Pomona-Pitzer sees its season come to a close at 16-11 on the year. 

The Sagehens had a glimmer of hope at the start of doubles, opening up with breaks at No. 1 and No. 2 for early 1-0 leads. However, Liu and Ian Freer came back with four straight games to take a 4-1 lead at No. 2 before taking an 8-3 win, and Robinson and Philip Martin also went ahead 4-1 at No. 1. 

Pomona-Pitzer's team battled back to pull even again at 4-4, but CMS was able to pull away for an 8-5 win to complete the doubles sweep. Nathan Arimilli and Jack Katzman added an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles for the first point of the match. 

The 3-0 lead took plenty of the pressure off of singles, where Pomona-Pitzer was able to take the first set at No. 2 and No. 6, but CMS earned the first set at the other four courts, needing to win only two of them in order to finish off the win. Robinson provided the fourth point of the match at No. 3, and Liu got off to a 4-0 lead at No. 1 before Hayden Snyder fought back to within 4-2. Liu, though, was able to take the final two games and finish off the 6-2 second-set win and send CMS on to nationals. 

Christopher Li was potentially two points away from the clinch at No. 5, where he was up 30-0 and held a 6-1, 5-4 lead. Katzman was also up a set and up 3-2 in the second, while Martin had earned his split at No. 2 and was early in the third set, and Michael Hao was close to a split at No. 6, where he led 5-3 in the second set. 

CMS will open play at nationals with a quarterfinal matchup on Monday, May 23, against the winner between Tufts and North Carolina Wesleyan, which will take place tomorrow. Chicago and Middlebury also advanced through to nationals on Saturday, with the other five regionals finishing up play on Sunday. 

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. Pomona-Pitzer (0)
May 14, 2022 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center) - NCAA Team Championship 3rd Round

Doubles
1. Philip Martin/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Jansen Comadena/Owen Kelley (PP) 8-5
2. Ian Freer/Robert Liu (CMS) def. Charlie Stark/Kush Patel (PP) 8-3
3. Nathan Arimilli/Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Hayden Snyder/Mukund Madabhushi (PP) 8-2

Singles
1. Robert Liu (CMS) def. Hayden Snyder (PP) 6-3, 6-2
2. Philip Martin (CMS) vs. Kush Patel (PP) 2-6, 6-3, 0-1, unfinished
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Charlie Stark (PP) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jack Katzman (CMS) vs. Mukund Madabhushi (PP) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
5. Christopher Li (CMS) vs. Jansen Comadena (PP) 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
6. Michael Hao (CMS) vs. Ethan Lee (PP) 1-6, 5-3, unfinished

Order of completion
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 3, 1