The No. 15 University of Redlands men's tennis team battled it out with a pair of ranked NAIA foes on Saturday, capturing exciting wins in both matches. The day started with an impressive 5-4 performance against the No. 9 Lions of Vanguard University and then finished with a 6-3 showing against No. 12 Concordia University – Irvine.
Against Vanguard, the Bulldogs roared out to a 2-1 lead in the doubles. Junior Anish Nanda (Cerritos, CA) and freshman Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) joined forces at the No. 3 slot for the 8-2 victory. The Lions evened the score by winning at No. 2, but the top duo of freshman Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) and senior Mark Bloom (San Juan Capistrano, CA) recorded an 8-3 triumph to make it 2-1 in favor of the Maroon and Gray.
In singles, Lipscomb rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the No. 1 position before Vanguard answered with straight-set showings at No. 3 and No. 6.
However, the junior tandem of Nanda and Darren Dahl (Westlake Village, CA) secured the winning points with their respective wins at No. 5 and No. 4. Nanda prevailed by scores of 6-4, 6-1, while Dahl captured a 7-6(3), 7-5 triumph.
During the Bulldogs' second match of the day, Redlands gained a 2-1 advantage in doubles with No. 2 and No. 3 stepping up with strong showings. Freshman Nick Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and junior Connor Hyde (Peterborough, NH) put together an 8-5 victory, while Nanda and Leahy came out on top with a solid 8-2 performance.
In singles, the teams faced a knotted score at three-all with Concordia nabbing victories at No. 3 and No. 4 and Redlands gaining a win from Cummins at No. 2 by scores of 6-1, 6-2.
Lipscomb inspired a momentum shift with his come-from-behind triumph at the top slot, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), which led to consecutive points from Nanda at No. 5 and freshman Teddy Jones (St. Louis, MO) at No. 6. Nanda took down his counterpart in a three-setter, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0, while Jones made his spring-season collegiate debut with a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 performance.
Redlands (3-1) looks forward to its next match on Wed., Feb. 22, when it hosts Washington & Lee University (VA) at 2 p.m. on Verdieck Courts.
