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Matthew Robinson and Ian Freer were one of 16 doubles teams to earn NCAA bids
Matthew Robinson and Ian Freer were one of 16 doubles teams to earn NCAA bids
Posted: May 26, 2024

CMS Men's Tennis Concludes Season at NCAA Individual Championships

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Advik Mareedu dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision in singles and Ian Freer and Matthew Robinson fell to the top seed in the doubles tournament as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team saw a successful 2023-24 season come to a close on Sunday at the NCAA Individual Championships.

The Stags were in action two days after suffering a difficult 5-4 defeat to Chicago in the national championship match, when they led 4-2 before a two-hour weather delay hit for lightning, and then Chicago stormed back from behind for three three-set singles wins to take the title. 

Mareedu dropped his singles match to Boren Zheng of NYU. Both sets followed the same formula, with each player exchanging holds for the first nine games, until Zheng was able to get a break on a deuce point while leading 5-4. 

Robinson and Freer, meanwhile, earned a tough draw against the big-serving duo of Matthew Kandel and Nicholas Chen of Williams, the top seed in the field. The Ephs come out sharp, holding serve at love the first two games to take a 3-0 lead. Freer and Robinson battled to hold twice and got a deuce point on Williams' serve trailing 5-2, but the Ephs were able to hold to take the first set. Williams added two more love service games in the second set for a 6-1 win to advance to the quarterfinals. 

CMS finished its season with a 29-4 record, winning 25 straight matches after back-to-back shutout losses at the ITA Indoor Championships (to Emory and Case Western). The Stags had numerous tight wins along the way, ascending to the No. 1 spot in the rankings after a week in which it defeated top-10 NESCAC foes Bowdoin, Tufts, Williams and Middlebury in succession. CMS also won the rematches with Tufts (5-3) and Bowdoin (5-4) in the national quarterfinals and semifinals, before falling to Chicago in the finals. 

Freer will be the only senior that the Stags lose, as CMS will look to make another deep tournament run next year, when it will host nationals at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.