Stags Showcase Singles Depth in 6-3 Upset of No. 1 Chicago

CLAREMONT, CA - No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis won five of six singles matches to complete a 6-3 comeback win over No. 1 Chicago in the first of two dual matches on Friday. CMS completed the doubleheader sweep with a 9-0 win over west region rival UC Santa Cruz. The Stags' win over the Maroons was their fourth over a team ranked No. 1 in the ITA rankings since 2013. CMS defeated Kenyon 9-0 in the 2013 Stag-Hen semifinals, Wash U in St. Louis 8-1 in the 2014 Stag-Hen championship match, and Middlebury 5-4 in the 2017 NCAA team semifinals.

With the memory of having been swept in doubles in a 5-2 loss to Chicago at Biszantz in the 2018 NCAA quarterfinals still fresh, the Stags were determined to take control of the opening three matches. The Maroons struck first with an 8-3 win at No. 2, but sophomores Jack Katzman (CMC) and Robert Liu (CMC) capitalized on two early service breaks and held on for an 8-6 win at No. 1, to level the dual at 1-all. Juniors Oscar Burney (CMC) and Daniel Park (CMC) had battled back from a 3-0 deficit at No. 3 to take a 7-6 lead and serve for the match and the Stags' first lead. However, a costly double fault on match point led to a Chicago service break and 7-5 tie-break win to give the Maroons a match advantage heading into singles.

CMS wasted no time in swinging the advantage its way, earning easy first sets at the No, 1, 2 and 6 positions. Park and Liu then added two more first sets to give the Stags five of six. Junior Nikolai Parodi (CMC) brought CMS even with his dominant 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2. Freshman Nic Meister (CMC) then put the Stags up for good with his straight set win at No. 6. Katzman increased the Stags' lead to 4-2, staying perfect in dual match play. Katzman is now 18-2 overall in singles and 12-0 this spring, having only lost one set. Park earned the Stags' clinch at No. 4 in a dramatic win on his fifth match point serving for the match.

In the second match of the doubleheader against UC Santa Cruz, CMS needed some clutch play to earn its first doubles sweep in nine days. Burney and Park were 8-1 winners at No. 2, but the Stags' No. 1 and No. 3 teams needed to come back from early service breaks for their victories. Jake Williams (HMC) and Casey Morris (CMC), playing at No. 3, fell behind 3-1. After breaking back for 3-all, they stayed on serve until 6-7, and then broke to win the match. At No. 1, Gordy and Parodi were similarly broken early and trailed 7-4, before winning three straight games and then winning the tie-break 7-5.

The Stags won all six singles matches against the Banana Slugs without the loss of a set. Parodi's 6-2, 6-3 win over 2018 ITA West Regional singles champion Chad LeDuff was the fourth meeting between two of the top players in the region. Parodi now holds a 3-1 head-to-head advantage against LeDuff.

Next up for the Stags is No. 2 Middlebury on Saturday, March 30 at 12 Noon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. CMS defeated Middlebury 8-1 in their 2018 regular season match-up last March, before the Panthers went on to win the 2018 NCAA team championship in Claremont in May.

#4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6) vs. #1 Chicago (3)
March 29, 2019 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Jack Katzman / Robert Liu (CMS) def. Tyler Raclin / Jeremy Yuan (Chicago) 8-6
2. Erik Kerrigan / Ninan Kumar (Chicago) def. Julian Gordy / Jake Williams (CMS) 8-3
3. Charlie Pei / Joshua Xu (Chicago) def. Oscar Burney / Daniel Park (CMS) 8-7(5)

Singles
1. Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Erik Kerrigan (Chicago) 6-1, 6-4
2. Nikolai Parodi (CMS)i def. Jeremy Yuan (Chicago) 6-2, 6-0
3. Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Charlie Pei (Chicago) 3-6, 6-3, (10-6)
4. Daniel Park (CMS) def. Alejandro Rodriguez (Chicago) 6-3, 6-4
5. Joshua Xu (Chicago) def. Robert Liu (CMS) 4-6, 6-0, (10-5)
6. Nic Meister (CMS) def. Alex Guzhva (Chicago) 6-2, 6-3

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

#4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9) vs. UC Santa Cruz (0)
March 29, 2019 at Claremont, CA (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Julian Gordy / Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Ryan Dugan / Chad Leduff (UCSC) 8-7(4)
2. Oscar Burney / Daniel Park (CMS) def. Kris Harris / Ryan Gee (UCSC) 8-1
3. Casey Morris / Jake Williams (CMS) def. David Jackson / Yaroslav Yanin (UCSC) 8-6

Singles
1. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Chad Leduff (UCSC) 6-2, 6-3
2. Casey Morris (CMS) def. Ryan Dugan (UCSC) 6-2, 6-2
3. Oscar Burney (CMS) def. Kris Harris (UCSC) 6-4, 6-0
4. Ethan Carroll (CMS) def. Yaroslav Yanin (UCSC) 6-0, 6-1
5. Avinash Vemuri (CMS) def. David Jackson (UCSC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Jake Williams (CMS) def. Ryan Gee (UCSC) 6-1, 6-1

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