CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team looked to carry momentum into Saturday after a solid 8-1 win over Chapman University Friday afternoon.
Despite competing all morning they were unable to get a footing as No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer went on to sweep doubles and singles en rout to winning 9-0 handing the Bulldogs their fourth loss in their last six matches. Redlands moves to 8-6, 2-1 SCIAC.
Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA) teamed up together at the top spot and found themselves in a tight match at 5-4, but couldn't hold on as they would fall 8-4. Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA) and Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) suffered the same fate at No. 2 keeping the match close early, before seeing PP pull away to the 8-4 win. At No. 3, Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA) and Josh Nelson (Montrose, NY) were paired up together and they were pushed aside 8-1 as the Sagehens would pick up the early 3-0 lead.
In singles the matches were competitive with Mattox having the highlight forcing a third set at No. 2 against Charlie Stark. After dropping the opening set 6-2 found a way to battle back to take the second 6-4. Then in the third it would go the distance with Stark pulling out a late break to win 7-5. Hester took on Hayden Snyder at No. 1 and he proved a tough test getting broken once in each set as he would fall 6-4, 6-3. Yip, after dropping the first set 6-2 at No. 3, found himself up in the second with a break, but couldn't hold on as he would fall 6-4.
Nelson matched up against Comadena at No. 5 and after getting blanked in the first set was able to bounce back to force a breaker in the second, ultimately falling 7-6. Max Hoffman (Taipei, Taiwan) was put into the singles lineup at No. 6 and after a slow start found his way in the second set, but it was a little too late as he would drop 6-2, 6-4.
Redlands looks to bounce back next weekend when they travel to take on Caltech on Friday, April 8 beginning at 3:00pm before hosting Occidental on Saturday, April 9 (10:00am).
