ST. PETER, Minn. - Warren Pham, who helped clinch the doubles point with a win at No. 3, came back after dropping the first set to take a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to break a 3-3 tie and give the No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team a 4-3 win over No. 1 Chicago in the finals of the ITA Indoor Championships on Sunday morning. 

With the win, CMS improves to 5-2 on the year after sweeping three ranked teams at the ITA Indoors, after also defeating No. 11 Trinity in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Case Western in the semifinals. Chicago suffers its first loss to an NCAA team, as it drops to 8-2 overall with the other loss to Notre Dame College of the NAIA. 

Pham and Matthew Robinson finished off the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 3 after the teams split at No. 1 and No. 2. Advik Mareedu and Josh Kim earned a 6-2 win at No. 2, and after Chicago pulled even with a 6-4 win at No. 1, the Stag duo picked up a key break on a deuce point to take a 5-3 lead and then served it out at 40-15 to give the Stags a 1-0 lead going into singles. 

Mareedu gave CMS its second point with a dominant win at No. 1 singles, taking his match 6-2, 6-3 and remaining undefeated on the year in singles, including a national title at the ITA Cup in the fall. Kim earned a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6, fighting off a set point on his serve down 5-4 in the second nad then breaking at 5-5 before serving it out at love.

Chicago took wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5, which brought the match down to Pham at No. 4.  After dropping the first set, he earned a break on a deuce point early in the second for a 3-1 lead, and then picked up another deuce point break to go up 5-3 before a love service game earned him a 6-3 win and a split. 

With the momentum on his side, Pham started the third set with a break and another love service game for a quick 2-0 lead. Michael Choi broke back on a deuce point to tie it 2-2, but Pham broke back immediately to take a 3-2 lead. He held on a deuce point for 4-2 and then rattled off the final three points to break Choi again and take a commanding 5-2 lead. After a changeover, Choi took a 30-15 lead, but Pham earned the final three points to finish off the match and give CMS the indoor title. 

The win was a measure of revenge for a tight national championship match last year in St. Louis, when CMS led 4-2 before a three-hour lightning delay, and the Maroons regrouped to come back for a 5-4 win for their first national title. If the two teams have another rematch in the finals this spring, it'll be at the Stags' home, as the Biszantz Family Tennis Center will serve as the host this year, beginning on May 19.