Blackman's Three-Set Win Gives CMS Men's Tennis 4-3 Win over Azusa Pacific

AZUSA. Calif. - Daniel Blackman won a dramatic third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles for the decisive point, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team earned a hard-fought 4-3 win over Azusa Pacific on Wednesday afternoon.

CMS, ranked No. 3 in Division III, improves to 14-4 on the year, and stretches its winning streak to seven matches. Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 31 in Division II, slips to 14-6 with the loss.

Blackman took the first set 6-3, and came within two points of forcing a second set tie-break, but dropped the second set 7-5. In the third - after Warren Pham had tied the dual at 3-all with his 7-5, 7-5 at No. 5 singles - Blackman led 4-2 before losing three straight games. He held at love serving at 4-5, and then had to wait through a three minute medical time-out that his opponent had taken before Blackman served at 5-6 in the final set. Blackman held this time at fifteen, and then won four of the first six points in the decisive tie-break. After Bohren leveled the tie-break at 4-all, Blackman won the final three points to secure the clinch for the Stags.

The Cougars took the doubles point, but the Stags went ahead 2-1 after winning the first two singles decisions. Mareedu earned a decisive 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles, and Ian Freer followed with an equally decisive 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 3. 

After Leyton Bohren tied the match score at 2-2 with a win at No. 2 singles, the Cougars were able to take the lead back when Elias Walter came back from a set down to win in three sets at No. 4. In Pham's 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 5 that evened the score at 3-all, the Stags' No. 5 needed seven match points to complete the victory. Pham is now 15-5 in singles, while Mareedu is 22-4 in singles on the season.

CMS will be back in action tomorrow for another non-Division III matchup when it hosts Division I UC San Diego at 7 p.m. The Stags will then return to Division III competition for road SCIAC matches with Caltech on Friday and Chapman on Saturday.  

#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (4) vs. #31 Azusa Pacific (3)
April 12, 2023 at Azusa, CA. (Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex)

Doubles

1. Christian Settles/Matthew Robinson (CMS) vs. Leyton Bohren/Marko Nikoliuk (APU) 4-5 DNF
2. Miha Velicki/Elias Walter (APU) def. Ian Freer/Daniel Blackman (CMS) 6-2
3. Broderick Bohren/Vilislav Bonev (APU) def. Advik Mareedu/Warren Pham (CMS) 6-3

Singles

1. Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Marko Nikoliuk (APU) 6-3, 6-0
2. Leyton Bohren (APU) def. Matthew Robinson (CMS) 6-4, 6-1
3. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Miha Velicki (APU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Elias Walter (APU) def. Christian Settles (CMS) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
5. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Cole Rassner (APU) 7-5, 7-5
6. Daniel Blackman (CMS) def. Broderick Bohren (APU) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4)

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