Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
PASADENA, Calif. – The Whittier College men's tennis team wrapped up the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships earning a 6-3 win over Occidental to finish sixth.
Match 1 (Pomona-Pitzer – 5, Whittier – 0)
The first day of the Championships, the Poets matched up against No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer to decision. No. 1 and No. 3 doubles dropped 8-3 pro sets to put WC in a hole 2-0. The No. 2 squad of Ian Ross (Altadena, Calif.) and Sam Farmer (Carlsbad, Calif.) put together a fight against Jonathan Kim and Graham Maassen but were broken late giving the Sagehens a 3-0 lead.
In singles, Kim got past David Stanko (Morena Valley, Calif.) 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 to move the score to 4-0 and Marko Mandic would power past Ross 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 that stopped the match.
Match 2 (Whittier – 6, Occidental – 3)
In the afternoon match, the Poets took on the Tigers sweeping doubles play to go in front 3-0. Troy Chavez (Temecula, Calif.) and Tyler Linscott (Tuscon, AZ) earned a hard fought 9-7 win over Josh Dancu and Avery Chernin. Stanko and Shogo Shimizu (Tokyo, Japan) would get the Poets another point at No. 3 winning 8-5 and Farmer and Ross capped things off winning 9-8 (3) in a breaker at No. 2.
In singles, Oxy managed a comeback getting wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 to pull the score even 3-3 but it was the bottom of the lineup that held strong for the Purple & Gold. Chavez powered past Bryson Lee at No. 4 6-3, 6-1, Linscott got late breaks in each set against Avery Howard at No. 6 to win 6-3, 6-4 and Ross pulled off the biggest win of his young career edging Jesse Kreger at No. 5 coming from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Match 3 (Chapman – 7, Whittier – 2)
In the fifth place match the Poets took on Chapman University but couldn't overcome a 2-1 hole after doubles as they fell 7-2.
The lone win in doubles came from Shimizu and Stanko at No. 3 beating Justin Thompson and Sam Mittledorf 8-5.
The only other point by the Poets came from Ross at No. 5 who again pulled out a three setter coming from behind over Hunter Morris 4-6, 6-3, 11-9.
Joseph Laguna (Santa Ana, Calif.) had a chance to earn a win at No. 6 coming from a set down only to fall in a third set breaker 4-6, 6-3, 6-10.
