CMS Men's Tennis Bounces Back in Singles for 12th Straight Regional Title
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The sixth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team fell behind 2-1 after doubles to No. 8 Trinity, but responded by winning all four singles decisions in straight sets to take a 5-2 win in the NCAA Division III Regional championship match on Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
With the win, CMS improves to 21-4, capturing its 14th win in a row, and wins an NCAA Regional title for the 12th straight season. Trinity ends its year with a 17-7 final record.
With the Stags trailing 2-0, Christian Settles and Matthew Robinson provided CMS with its doubles point at No. 1, the first of five unanswered victories bookended by Robinson's doubles win and his singles clinch at the No. 2 position.
In between, Warren Pham and Ian Freer had dominant wins at No. 5 and No. 3 singles, respectively, with Pham the first to finish with a 6-3, 6-0 win to tie the score 2-2. For Pham, it was his 20th singles win of the season against only five defeats. Freer completed a similarly decisive 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3, giving CMS the lead for good.
In a battle of two NCAA singles qualifiers, the Stags' Advik Mareedu was pushed at No. 1 singles by Hao Nguyen. Mareedu was unable to serve out the first set at 5-4, but then answered with two straight games for 7-5. He led most of the second set by a service break, and closed out the match in similar fashion by winning the final two games for a 7-5, 6-3 result. With CMS at the brink of victory leading 4-2, Robinson fought back from a break down early in his second set, but prevailed 7-5 in a closely contested tie-break. Daniel Blackman had just begun a second-set tiebreaker at No. 6, where he led 6-3, 5-6, while Settles was on the verge of a split at No. 4, leading 5-2 in the second after dropping the first set 7-5.
CMS will next head to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals in Orlando on Saturday, when it will meet No. 3 Washington University St. Louis in the quarterfinals. The Semifinals will take place on Monday, May 15, with the championship match on May 16.
#6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5) vs. #8 Trinity University (2)
May 6, 2023 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center) NCAA Round of 16
Doubles
- Matthew Robinson/Christian Settles (CMS) def. Eric Liao/Hao Nguyen (TU) 8-3
- Alessio Azzalini/Rafa Candelas Ruiz (TU) def. Ian Freer/Morgan Schilling (CMS) 8-3
- Robert Chang/Dalton Locke (TU) def. Advik Mareedu/Warren Pham (CMS) 8-4
Singles
- Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. Hao Nguyen (TU) 7-5, 6-3
- Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Alessio Azzalini (TU) 6-3, 7-6(5)
- Ian Freer (CMS) def. Eric Liao (TU) 6-2, 6-2
- Christian Settles (CMS) vs. Connor Whittington (TU) 5-7, 5-2, DNF
- Warren Pham (CMS) def. Rafa Candelas Ruiz (TU) 6-3, 6-0
- Daniel Blackman (CMS) vs. Robert Chang (TU) 6-3, 6-6, DNF
Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 5, 3, 1, 2