CMS Stags Tennis won a tough 6-3 decision against #5 Cal
Lutheran to claim their eighth straight outright SCIAC title and
extend their conference unbeaten streak to 75 matches. CMS was led
by Nikolas Marino (So. - San Diego, CA)
and Alex Lane (Sr. - Claremont, CA), who
each won two matches on for the Stags.
The Stags got on the scoreboard first with #1 team Warren
Wood (So. - Del Mar, CA) and Joe
Dorn (So. - Washington D.C.) turning in an impressive
win over the top team in the West Region, Cal Lutheran's Nick
Ballou and Ray Worley. The win avenged a one-sided loss to Ballou
and Worley six days earlier in the Ojai doubles final.
Cal Lu evened the score at one-all with a win at #2 doubles and
then led 7-4 at #3 doubles, before Marino and Lane began their
comeback. Lane held for 5-7, and then the Stags third pair broke at
30 to get back on serve at 6-7. Marino held for 7-all and then the
two teams traded service holds and headed into a tie-break. The
tie-break turned out to be a serving battle, with the Stags' #3
only missing one first serve en route to a 7-3 victorious
outcome.
With the score 2-1 after doubles, the two teams each won first
sets in three of the singles matches. Cal Lu took the opening sets
at #1, #2, and #5, while CMS took leads at #3, #4, and #6. Senior
Alex Johnson (Thousand Oaks, CA) put
CMS ahead 3-1 with his straight set win at #6. Marino then got his
27th win of the year at #3 to put the Stags ahead 4-1 and only one
match away from clinching. Worley's two set win against Dorn at #2
narrowed the Stags' lead to 4-2, with both Skyler Butts (Fr. - Santa Ana, CA) and
Lane, at #5 and #3 only points away from winning. Butts closed out
a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win for the 5th and deciding match, completing a
comeback from 2-6, 2-3 and two break points down. Lane then served
out a 6-4, 6-4 win at #4 to put CMS up 6-2, leaving the two top
players in the country - Ballou and Wood - to conclude the dual
match.
Ballou served twice for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, with Wood
breaking twice to stay in the match and then force a second set
tie-break. Wood won his eighth tie-break of the season in eleven
opportunities, 7-4, to then force a third set. With Ballou serving
at 1-3, and break point for a second Wood break, Ballou placed a
cross court backhand pass on the outer edge of the line and
went on to hold for 2-3. Ballou then broke first for 3-all and then
again with Wood serving at 4-5, to earn the 6-4 third set win and
his team's third point of the dual.
CMS concludes the regular season with a 26-3 overall record and
10-0 in SCIAC, ranked #1 in the West Region and #1 nationally. The
NCAA Division III team championships draw as well as individual
singles and doubles selections will be announced Monday, May 6. CMS
will likely host the NCAA opening round matches next Friday through
Sunday, May 10-12.
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6) vs. #5
Cal Lutheran (3)
May 4, 2013 - SCIAC Championship Match at Whittier, CA (Whittier
Narrows Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Warren
Wood / Joe
Dorn def. Nick Ballou / Ray Worley (Cal Lu) 8-5
2. Alex Nichols / Connor Treacy (Cal Lu) def. Neel
Kotrappa / Skyler
Butts (CMS) 8-3
3. Nikolas
Marino / Alex Lane (CMS) def. Thomas Millet / Marcelo
Sousa (Cal Lu) 9-8(3)
Singles
1. Nick Ballou (Cal Lu) def. Warren Wood (CMS) 6-2, 6-7(4),
6-4
2. Ray Worley (Cal Lu) def. Joe Dorn (CMS) 6-3, 6-4
3. Nikolas Marino (CMS) def. Alex Nichols (Cal Lu) 6-3, 6-3
4. Alex
Lane (CMS) def. Connor Treacy (Cal Lu) 6-4, 6-4
5. Skyler Butts (CMS) def. Thomas Millet (Cal Lu) 2-6, 6-4,
6-2
6. Alex
Johnson (CMS) def. Devon Belcher (Cal Lu) 6-4, 6-1
Order of
completion
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 6, 3, 2, 5, 4, 1
