Pham Takes Three-Setter, But CMS Men's Tennis Falls to No. 7 Williams

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Warren Pham won a tough battle at No. 5 singles, winning the third-set match tie-break 11-9, to salvage the final point of the match as the third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team fell 8-1 to seventh-ranked Williams on Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

The loss drops CMS to 7-4 on the year, while Williams improves to 6-2. 

CMS mixed up its doubles teams following a defeat to Tufts yesterday, and it nearly produced a win at No. 1 doubles, where Ian Freer and Christian Settles were up 6-4 in the tiebreaker, but Williams was able to win four straight points to take the tiebreaker and a 3-0 lead into singles. 

Pham was the only Stag to take the first set, edging Shawn Berdia 6-4, but Berdia was able to come back and get the split. Pham took a 6-3 lead in the deciding match tie-break before yielding five straight points. He then saved a match point at 8-9 and went on to win the final two points.

Advik Mareedu jumped out to a first-set lead at No. 1 against Chase Cohen, but Cohen was able to fight back and take a 7-5, 6-4 win. Nicholas Chen had similar tough battle with Settles at No. 4, prevailing 7-5, 6-3. 

CMS will be back in action on Thursday to face West Region opponent UC Santa Cruz at 6 p.m. at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1) vs. #7 Williams (8)
March 25, 2023 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles

1. Matt Kandel/Chase Cohen (WILL) def. Ian Freer/Christian Settles (CMS) 8-7 (6)
2. Nicholas Chen/Jason Shuler (WILL) def. Matthew Robinson/Advik Mareedu (CMS) 8-5
3. Simon Volkema/Shawn Berdia (WILL) def. Daniel Blackman/Warren Pham (CMS) 8-5

Singles

1. Chase Cohen (WILL) def. Advik Mareedu (CMS) 7-5, 6-4
2. Matt Kandel (WILL) def. Matthew Robinson (CMS) 6-1, 6-2
3. Jason Shuler (WILL) def. Ian Freer (CMS) 6-3, 6-2
4. Nicholas Chen (WILL) def. Christian Settles (CMS) 7-5, 6-3
5. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Shawn Berdia (WILL) 6-4, 3-6, (11-9)
6. Simon Volkema (WILL) def. Morgan Schilling (CMS) 6-3, 6-4

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