The 19th-ranked University of Redlands men's tennis team captured a solid 8-1 victory over No. 22 Whittier College in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown on Friday. After building great momentum with a doubles sweep, the Bulldogs gained two efficient triumphs at Nos. 3 and 4 to seal the road-win.
The Maroon and Gray jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage by sweeping the doubles for just the second time this season. Juniors Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) and Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) initiated the scoring with their 8-5 performance at No. 1, before junior Ted Burchett (Gold River, CA) and freshman Jake Ly (Torrance, CA) captured an 8-6 victory at No. 3. Juniors Max Licona (Los Angeles, CA) and Teddy Jones (St. Louis, MO) completed the sweep with their 8-5 effort at No. 2.
In singles, Whittier pulled one back with a win at No. 1, but Leahy made quick work of his No. 4 counterpart with a 6-3 6-3 victory to put Redlands up by an overall lead of 4-1.
Freshman Tom Suchodolski (Amherst, MA) then stepped up for the Maroon and Gray with his 7-5, 6-3 effort at the No. 3 slot for the team's deciding point.
In addition, Burchett, Licona, and freshman Parker Wilson (Carlsbad, CA) registered singles wins en route to the Bulldogs' 8-1 overall tally.
Redlands (8-11, 2-3 SCIAC) finishes up its dual-match season on Saturday when it hosts a pair of SCIAC opponents on Verdieck Courts. The Bulldogs take on Caltech at 10 a.m. and then welcome Chapman University for a 2 p.m. tilt.
