The No. 11 University of Redlands men's tennis team opened a busy weekend in Walla Walla, WA, with a tough showdown against the host school Whitman College on Friday afternoon. Despite storming out to a 2-1 lead through the doubles, the Bulldogs struggled to shut down the 14th-ranked Blues en route to a 3-6 season-opening loss.
In doubles, Redlands jumped on the board with an 8-4 victory by junior Chase Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) and first-year Brysl Libao (Redlands, CA) at No. 2. The Bulldogs kept rolling at No. 3, as first-year Cameron Krimbill (Scottsdale, AZ) and senior Cooper Lacetera (Westhampton Beach, NY) captured an 8-5 win to put their team up 2-0.
However, Whitman answered with an 8-5 triumph of its own at the No. 1 slot.
Leading 2-1, the Bulldogs needed just half of the singles matches to put this one in the books. But Whitman had other plans and quickly snagged two-set victories at Nos. 1 and 4 to move ahead in the team scoring, 3-2.
After a tight three-set loss at No. 2, Redlands got back on track at No. 3, with senior Joey Dulle (St. Louis, MO) rallying for a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.
Unfortunately, the Maroon and Gray's comeback stopped there, as the Blues came away victorious in the remaining two singles matches.
Redlands (0-1) faces a quick turnaround on Saturday, beginning with an 8 a.m. match against No. 13 Trinity University (TX). The team also squares off against Lewis & Clark College (OR) at 5 p.m. Both matches take place at Whitman's Bratton Indoor Tennis Center.
