The No. 20 University of Redlands men's tennis left it all on the court but suffered a heartbreaking 4-5 loss to No. 14 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Friday afternoon in Claremont.
After the Sagehens picked up a positive result at No. 3 doubles, the Maroon and Gray responded with a pair of triumphs in the remaining matches. First, the No. 1 tandem of junior Brad Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and sophomore Brysl Libao (Redlands, CA) captured a hard-fought 8-7(4) win. At No. 2, first-years Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) and Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA) came out on top by a similar score of 8-7(5).
However, Pomona-Pitzer responded with wins in the first three singles matches to make it 4-2.
Redlands needed all three remaining results to go its way to pull out the comeback. Cummins did his part at No. 4 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 effort, while Libao prevailed at No. 4 in a 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 showing.
It all came down to No. 6, but the Sagehens pulled out the win in straight sets to send the Bulldogs home with a difficult defeat.
Redlands (12-5, 4-2 SCIAC) looks forward to honoring its lone senior, Chase Lipscomb (Irvine, CA), on Saturday, April 20, when it hosts Chapman University at 10 a.m. on Verdieck Courts. A win against the Panthers would solidify the Bulldogs as the No. 3 seed for the upcoming SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
