The No. 16 Bulldog men's tennis team battled it out with eighth-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match on Saturday, but came up short against the Sagehens by a heartbreaking 4-5 decision.

Redlands captured two of the doubles points to secure an early lead. The No. 3 duo of seniors Jeff Hammond (Mercer Island, WA) and Keven Wong (Kanehoe, HI) initiated the scoring with their 8-6 victory. The top tandem of seniors Cameron Spearman (Laguna Niguel, CA) and Jeff Casserd (Bellevue, WA) followed suit with an 8-5 win.

However, Pomona-Pitzer stormed back to tie it up at two-all with wins at No. 2 doubles and No. 1 singles.

Nonetheless, Redlands answered with two consecutive triumphs for a 4-2 advantage in the overall match score. Wong made quick work of his No. 6 opponent, 6-3, 6-1, before junior Mark Bloom (San Juan Capistrano, CA) came up with a 6-1, 6-4 showing at No. 3.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs' momentum ran out there as the Sagehens responded with three straight points to secure the hard-fought victory.

Redlands (9-10, 2-1 SCIAC) returns to the friendly confines of Verdieck Courts on Friday for a conference bout against 18th-ranked Cal Lutheran University at 2 p.m.