The No. 13 University of Redlands men's tennis team captured a spot in the third-place match of the 2013 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament by splitting results in Friday's action. The third-seeded Bulldogs cruised to a 5-0 victory over sixth-seeded Occidental College before falling to the No. 2 seed, Cal Lutheran University, by a score of 2-7 in the semifinal match.
The Maroon and Gray erased any hope of an upset by the Tigers by jumping out to a solid 3-0 lead in the doubles competition. The top tandem of sophomores Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) and Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) put Redlands on the board with an impressive 8-2 performance. The No. 3 duo of sophomores Max Licona (Culver City, CA) and Teddy Jones (St. Louis, MO) kept things rolling for the Bulldogs by registering an 8-5 win, before sophomore Nick Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and senior Connor Hyde (Peterborough, NH) secured the sweep with their 8-4 showing at No. 2.
Redlands recorded back-to-back singles wins at Nos. 3 and 4 to put this one in the books. Cummins rattled off an impressive 6-0, 6-2 victory, before sophomore Taylor Hunt (Seattle, WA) dismissed his opponent at No. 4 by scores of 6-1, 6-1.
Redlands looked forward to the rematch opportunity with the fifth-ranked Kingsmen, who had defeated the Bulldogs back on March 16. However, Cal Lutheran came out firing and took an early 3-0 lead, which forced the Maroon and Gray into a sizeable uphill battle that proved to be too much.
In doubles, Cal Lutheran took the first two matches but Redlands forced a tiebreaker at No. 2. However, the Kingsmen held on for the sweep by a score of 9-8(3).
Cummins remained steadfast in his full-day performance for the Bulldogs by recording a straight-set win over his No. 3 opponent, 6-2, 6-4.
Senior Anish Nanda (Cerritos, CA) also stepped up for the Maroon and Gray, winning at No. 6 in an extended match, 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(7).
Redlands (14-8, 6-3 SCIAC) faces fourth-seeded and 20th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Saturday's third-place match at 10 a.m. The teams square off at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center.
