The No. 15 University of Redlands men's tennis team competed in a doubleheader on Saturday, earning split results against two very different squads. In the morning, the Bulldogs headed to Eagle Rock for their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match of the season and came home victorious by a score of 8-1 over Occidental College. Back on Verdieck Courts in the afternoon, the Maroon and Gray took on the fourth-ranked team in the country from Amherst College (MA) but suffered a shutout defeat.
During the day's first contest, the Bulldogs grabbed all three doubles wins with solid results. The No. 1 duo of juniors Nick Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and Teddy Jones (St. Louis, MO) put together an efficient 8-1 performance to get things rolling for Redlands. At No. 3, freshman Tom Suchodolski (Amherst, MA) and junior Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) fired off an 8-3 victory, before junior Ted Burchett (Gold River, CA) and freshman Jake Ly (Torrance, CA) completed the doubles sweep with their 8-6 triumph at No. 2.
The Bulldogs continued to cruise in singles by winning in straight sets in five of the six matches. Leahy and Ly put this one in the books for the Maroon and Gray with their respective victories at Nos. 5 and 6.
In addition, Suchodolski, Burchett, and Jones all registered strong performances for Redlands.
After returning home to Verdieck Courts, the Bulldogs jumped back into action with a non-conference bout with Amherst. The Lord Jeffs garnered a 2-0 lead with solid wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Redlands held out hope for a possible point at the No. 3 slot, but the duo suffered a tough defeat in a tiebreaker, resulting in a significant deficit for the Maroon and Gray.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs never recovered in singles, dropping all but one match in straight sets. The bright spot came at No. 4, where Leahy pushed his opponent to a third set in a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 decision.
Redlands (6-7, 1-0 SCIAC) takes on 19th-ranked UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday in a 3 p.m. non-conference showdown on Verdieck Courts.
