CMS Men's Tennis Sweeps Lewis and Clark (9-0), Brandeis (6-1) in Sunday Twinbill
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team did not drop a set in singles in two matches as it captured a 9-0 win over Lewis & Clark and a 6-1 win over No. 20 Brandeis on Sunday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
With the wins, CMS moves to 3-1 in dual matches this season, with the loss coming to Division II Point Loma in the season opener on Friday. The Brandeis match was played with Division I scoring rules, with doubles counting for one point instead of three.
Ian Freer and Matthew Robinson won both matches at No. 1 doubles on the day, earning a 9-7 tiebreaker win in the nightcap against Brandeis after fighting off four match points, and were both perfect in singles, with Freer winning at No. 1 against Lewis & Clark (7-5, 6-2) and at No. 2 against Brandeis (6-1, 6-0). Robinson was held out of singles against the Pioneers in the morning, and earned a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 3 against Brandeis in the afternoon.
Freer and Robinson were the first of three doubles winners to start the day against Lewis & Clark, earning an 8-3 victory, and the Stags quickly followed suit with two more doubles points, with Advik Mareedu and Warren Pham winning 8-4 at No. 2, and Josh Kim and Tarm Rojanasoonthon winning 8-4 at No. 3.
Anirudh Reddy earned the first singles point at No. 3, with an emphatic 6-0, 6-2 scoreline, and Kim earned the clincher with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5. Daniel Blackman made it 6-0 Stags with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4, and Freer made it a singles-doubles sweep to extend the lead to 7-0. Pham finished off a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2, and Amar Kumar made it a 9-0 sweep with the final point, taking a 6-2, 6-3 win at the No. 6 line.
The Brandeis match had a different ebb and flow, with the Judges taking a doubles point separated by the thinnest of margins. Despite leading by a service break on all three courts, CMS dropped No. 3 by a 6-4 score, then failed to convert on two match points at 5-3 at No. 2. Freer and Robinson also served for the match at No. 1 doubles, but the Judges forced a tie-break in which they held four match points. The Stags No. 1 pair seized victory on their first match point opportunity in order to avoid the doubles sweep.
CMS responded from an erratic doubles performance to dominate nearly every singles match, earning four wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 and No. 5 where they only dropped a combined five games in eight sets. Pham was the first to finish to tie the score up at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4, and Freer earned his 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2 to put the Stags in front. Anirudh Gupta won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 to put CMS on the verge of the clinch, and Mareedu came through with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 to secure the team win.
The Stags earned the last two singles points as well in tougher battles, as Rojanasoonthon came back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to win 7-6, 6-2, taking the first-set tiebreaker 7-2 after winning the first six points. Robinson cruised in the first set at No. 3, but had to gut out the second, winning 6-1, 7-5 after being down 5-4.
CMS will be back in action at the ITA Indoor Nationals in Kentucky this weekend, taking on No. 13 Trinity (TX) in the first round on Friday at 11 AM PST. No. 1 Case Western, No. 6 Emory, No. 8 WashU, No. 12 Gustavus Adolphus, No. 9 Sewanee and No. 10 Chicago are also competing at the event.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9) vs. Lewis & Clark (0)
February 18, 2024 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Joey Lyon/Wade McDermott (LCMT) 8-3
2. Advik Mareedu/Warren Pham (CMS) def. Noah Sutin/Matt Chio (LCMT) 8-4
3. Josh Kim/Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Kai Wills/Landon Cronin (LCMT) 8-4
Singles
1. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Noah Sutin (LCMT) 7-5, 6-2
2. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Kai Wills (LCMT) 6-3, 6-4
3. Anirudh Reddy (CMS) def. Matt Chio (LCMT) 6-0, 6-2
4. Daniel Blackman (CMS) def. Joey Lyon (LCMT) 6-2, 6-3
5. Josh Kim (CMS) def. Wade McDermott (LCMT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Amar Kumar (CMS) def. Miles Stone (LCMT) 6-2, 6-3
Order of completion
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 3, 5, 4, 1, 2, 6
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6) vs. Brandeis (1)
February 18, 2024 at Claremont, CA. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Ian Freer/Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. #19 Tommy Harrison/Dylan Walters (BRM) 7-6(7)
2. Huasen Dong/Pierce Garbett (BRM) def. Warren Pham/Advik Mareedu (CMS) 7-6(5)
3. Aaron Basye/Alex Merson (BRM) def. Josh Kim/Anirudh Reddy (CMS) 6-4
Singles
1. #9 Advik Mareedu (CMS) def. #22 Dylan Walters (BRM) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ian Freer (CMS) def. Tommy Harrison (BRM) 6-1, 6-0
3. Matthew Robinson (CMS) def. Alex Merson (BRM) 6-1, 7-5
4. Warren Pham (CMS) def. Huasen Dong (BRM) 6-1, 6-0
5. #23 Anirudh Gupta (CMS) def. Aaron Basye (BRM) 6-0, 6-1
6. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CMS) def. Pierce Garbett (BRM) 7-6(2), 6-2
Order of completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3
