Redlands, Calif. - The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Tennis team defeated both Occidental (5-0) and Cal Lutheran (5-4) to move on to the SCIAC Championship match tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Sophomore Chris Wiechert (Eugene, Ore. - pictured) was 4-0 on the day in both singles and doubles, while picking up the clinching win in singles in both matches. Pomona-Pitzer moves on to tomorrow's championship against CMS, which defeated Redlands in the other semifinal.

Third-seeded Pomona-Pitzer made quick work of sixth-seeded Occidental in the morning, sweeping all three doubles matches and then getting wins at No. 1 singles from senior Tommy Meyer (6-1, 6-1) and No. 2 singles from Wiechert (7-5, 6-1). The match concluded as soon as the Sagehens clinched, due to conference rules, with the other four matches ending up unfinished.

That win put Pomona-Pitzer, ranked ninth nationally in the latest ITA rankings, against No. 7 Cal Lutheran, the tournament's second seed in a big semifinal featuring a pair of top 10 teams. Wiechert and doubles partner Alex Groth came back for an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles to help the Sagehens take a 2-1 lead into singles after the teams split the first two doubles matches. Meyer and senior Uday Singh rolled to an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles as well, their second straight 8-0 win of the day after also shutting out their opponents against Occidental. 

Pomona-Pitzer then jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead as Connor Hudson won 6-0 in the second set at No. 4 singles (6-2, 6-0) and Kevin Prescott won big in both sets at No. 6 singles (6-2, 6-1). It was a bit of redemption for Prescott, who was forced into the line-up at No. 6 in the regular season meeting with Cal Lutheran and fell in three sets for the deciding point in a 5-4 loss.

Cal Lutheran inched closer with a win at No. 1 singles as Nick Ballou edged Meyer 6-4, 6-3 to close to 4-2, but Wiechert methodically built up his second-set lead from 3-0 to 5-1 and then closed out the 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2, which put the Sagehens ahead 5-2 and clinched the match. Unlike the quarterfinals, the semifinals was played through to completion, and the Kingsmen closed out with the final two singles wins to make the final score 5-4.

Pomona-Pitzer dropped its first meeting with CMS this year 7-2, as it took two out of three in doubles before CMS swept all six singles matches.


#9 Pomona-Pitzer 5, #7 Cal Lutheran 4

Doubles
1 - Nick Ballou/Ray Worley (CLU) def. Frankie Allinson/Max Sabel 8-2
2 - Tommy Meyet/Uday Singh (PP) def. Justin Wilson/Conner Treacy 8-0
3 - Chris Wiechert/Alex Groth (PP) def. Thomas Millet/Marcelo Sousa 8-6

Singles
1 - Nick Ballou (CLU) def. Tommy Meyer 6-4, 6-3
2 - Chris Wiechert (PP) def. Justin Wilson 6-3, 6-2
3 - Ray Worley (CLU) def. Max Sabel 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
4 - Connor Hudson (PP) def. Connor Treacy 6-2, 6-0
5 - Thomas Millet (CLU) def. Frankie Allinson 6-3. 2-6, 6-2
6 - Kevin Prescott (PP) def. Cody Kowalczyk 6-2, 6-1


Pomona-Pitzer 5, Occidental 0

Doubles
1 - Frankie Allinson/Max Sabel (PP) def. Jeremy Shapiro/Jordan Brown 8-3
2 - Tommy Meyer/Uday Singh (PP) def. Kevin Siebs/Ben Gilmor 8-0
3 - Chris Wiechert/Alex Groth (PP) def. Stephen Perkins/Jamie Grossman 8-6

Singles
1 - Tommy Meyer (PP) def. Kevin Siebs 6-1, 6-1
2 - Chris Wiechert (PP) def. Jeremy Shapiro 7-5, 6-1

matches 3-6 were halted once Pomona-Pitzer clinched