CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team had their first away and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match of the season against No. 16 Pomona Pitzer Saturday morning. The Bulldogs battled but would come up short 4-3 in the loss.
Redlands started off strong in doubles, looking like they could secure the opening doubles point.
Jack Hinkle (Bountiful, UT) and
Mateen Ghafarshad (Claremont, CA) at No. 3 took their match 6-4. But at No.2 the Sagehens would deadlock things as
Samuel Parsons (Leamington Spa, England) and
Cooper Whittington (Lake Oswego, OR) would fall 6-1. So, the decisive point came down to the top court with
Vitomir Petcov (Portland, OR) and
Marlon Abarca (San Diego, CA). They forced a tiebreaker but ultimately fell 7-6 allowing the Sagehens to grab the much needed doubles point.
After falling behind the Bulldogs refocused on singles and put together a comeback having to win four matches to come away with the upset. They got close winning three and having three matches go the distance.
Hinkle on the fourth court put Redlands on the scoreboard first—breezing through a 6-2, 6-2 victory. However, the Bulldogs dropped the next two points with No.1 Petcov falling just short 6-3, 7-5 and No. 5
William Pullin (Peachtree City, GA) dropping a tight straight sets 6-4, 7-5. This put Redlands behind 3-1.
The last three matches came down to No. 2
Gustavo Marcanth (Redondo Beach, CA), No. 3 Abarca, and No. 6 Ghafarshad—all who battled through three close sets. Marcanth lost the first set 7-6, came back in the second to win 6-3, but ultimately fell in the third 6-3. Next to him, Abarca was successful winning the first set 6-2, losing the second 6-4, and battling back to win the third 6-4. Ghafarshad also came out victorious having lost the first set 7-5, and then battling back to win the second 6-3 and the third 6-1.
Redlands returns to the court Monday, March 16 when they host No. 5 Tufts University beginning at 4:00pm inside the Verdieck Tennis Center.
