The No. 16 University of Redlands men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day with a solid blanking of 27th-ranked Whittier College in Saturday's final Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) dual match of the season. After nabbing an early 3-0 lead in doubles, the Bulldogs continued to roll by winning each singles match in straight sets.
The No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore Connor Hyde (Peterborough, NH) and junior Mark Bloom (San Juan Capistrano, CA) made quick work of their respective opponents with an 8-1 performance to initiate the team scoring. The senior tandem of Keven Wong (Kaneohe, HI) and Jeff Hammond (Mercer Island, WA) followed suite with an 8-2 dismantling at the No. 3 slot.
Finally, after breaking serve midway through the match, the top team of seniors Jeff Casserd (Bellevue, WA) and Cameron Spearman (Laguna Niguel, CA) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-4 performance.
Despite using a revised lineup, Redlands maintained control in the singles showdowns. After Hyde's opponent retired in the second set, the Bulldogs gained the clinching point when Wong dominated his No. 4 counterpart, 6-1, 6-3.
In addition, Bloom, Spearman, senior Casey Fashouer (Arlington, VA) and sophomore Anish Nanda (Cerritos, CA) recorded wins for the Bulldogs.
Redlands (11-11, 4-2 SCIAC) enters the SCIAC Championship Tournament as the three-seed and faces the sixth-seeded Occidental College Tigers in the opening round on Friday, April 22.
