Claremont, Calif. - The No. 17-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Men's Tennis team swept all six singles lines without losing a set as it defeated No. 23 Bates 7-2 in its season opener on Thursday evening at Pauley Courts.

With the win, the Sagehens start the year out 1-0, while Bates slips to 0-2 after falling 5-4 to Whittier in its first match.

Senior Chris Wiechert won in both singles and doubles, teaming with Anthony Bello for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, and then taking a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles. However, Bates took a 2-1 lead after doubles, with Christopher Ellis and Eric Ruta winning 10-8 in a tiebreaker at No. 3 in the rubber match.

The Sagehens, though, seized momentum by winning the first sets at all six singles courts. Sophomore Jonathan Kim was the first to complete his match with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 5, while freshman Graham Maassen quickly followed with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 to give the Sagehens a 3-2 lead.

After Wiechert finished off his match, junior Michael Chang (pictured) fought off a late rally from Henry Lee at No. 6 to take a 6-3, 6-4 win for the clinching win. Chang led 5-2, but Lee battled back to 5-4 to get back on serve and had the tying game at deuce before Chang was able to close it out.

Freshman Jake Yasgoor then wrapped up a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles over Pierre Planche, and junior Kevin Wei picked up the final point with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Chapman for its first SCIAC match of the season.