Claremont, Calif. – Freshman Graham Maassen fought off two match points down 5-4 in the third set and won 8-6 in a tiebreaker to provide the clinching point at No. 3 singles, as Pomona-Pitzer defeated Mary Washington 5-4 in a top-20 battle at Pauley Tennis Complex.

With the win, the Sagehens, ranked No. 16 in the nation, improve to 3-0 on the young season, while No. 17 Mary Washington suffers its first loss and falls to 7-1.

Senior Chris Wiechert (pictured) had a dominant day for Pomona-Pitzer, winning 8-2 at No. 1 doubles with freshman Anthony Bello, and adding a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles, which put the Sagehens ahead 3-1. Junior Connor Hudson and Maassen took their first sets at No. 2 and No. 3 as well, giving Pomona-Pitzer the inside track for the team win.

However, Mary Washington bounced back as Alex Blahkin won a tight match at No. 5 to pull the Eagles within 3-2. Evan Charles won a second-set tiebreaker with Hudson at No. 2 to force a third set, and Stratton Gilmore took a 7-5 decision in the second set at No. 3 to bring that match to a decisive third as well.

Hudson regrouped in the third set and picked up a break for a 3-2 lead, and then closed out the set with another break for a 6-3 win to put the Sagehens ahead 4-2. Moments later, though, David Lunding-Johansson won a second-set tiebreaker at No. 4 for Mary Washington, making the score 4-3.

Meanwhile, Maassen was reeling a bit at No. 3 and found himself down 5-3 in the third. He held to pull within 5-4, and then faced two match points on Gilmore's serve, before fighting them off to get a break and pull level at 5-5. Both players then held to go to a tiebreaker, and Maassen took command with a 6-3 lead, giving him three match points.

Gilmore fought them off though, first getting a service winner and then forcing Maassen into a defensive lob that carried long. Maassen then came to net with a good opportunity, but had his volley hit the tape to allow Gilmore back even at 6-6. The two players then had a dramatic point that lasted several minutes, as each player had to make defensive shots to stay in the point when the other had a clear advantage. Gilmore finally made an error at the net, and then clipped the tape on Maassen's ensuing return to seal the win for the Sagehens.

Moments after the clinching point, Brandon Griffin took a 7-5 third-set win at No. 6 for Mary Washington, making the final score of the overall match 5-4.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Monday, when it entertains No. 6 Trinity (Texas) for a 4 p.m. contest.

Doubles
1) Chris Wiechert/Anthony Bello (PP) def Tyler Carey/Evan Charles 8-2
2) Brandon Griffin/Stratton Gilmore (UMW) def Connor Hudson/Spencer Simonides 9-8 (7-3)
3) Jonathan Kim/Sam Crawford (PP) def Alex Blahkin/David Lunding-Johansson 8-6

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1) Chris Wiechert (PP) def Tyler Carey 6-3, 6-0
2) Connor Hudson (PP) def Evan Charles 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3
3) Graham Maassen (PP) def Stratton Gilmore 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6)
4) David Lunding-Johansson (UMW) def Kevin Wei 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
5) Alex Blahkin (UMW) def Jonathan Kim 7-6 (10-8), 6-4
6) Brandon Griffin (UMW) def Michael Chang 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 5, 2, 4, 3, 6