Claremont, Calif. - Sophomore Antony Bello (pictured) broke a 4-4 tie with a three-set win at No. 5 singles (7-5, 4-6, 6-2) to give the No. 4 ranked Pomona-Pitzer Men's Tennis team another 5-4 win, this time over No. 21 UC Santa Cruz. 

With the win, the Sagehens are now 19-3 on the season (19-2 vs. Division III) and have won eight matches by 5-4 scores, all over nationally ranked teams. UC Santa Cruz falls to 5-9 on the season with the loss. 

The Sagehens took a 2-1 lead after doubles, with Connor Hudson and Kalyan Chadalavada providing the swing point at No. 1 with a 7-4 win in the tiebreaker to break a 1-1 tie. Junior Jonathan Kim and sophomore Jake Yasgoor also earned a win at No. 2 (8-5). 

After UC Santa Cruz tied the match 2-2, freshman Sam Malech earned a two-set win at No. 6 to make the score 3-2, and Hudson had a big second-set rally at No. 1, coming back from down 5-2 in the second to win 6-2, 7-5 and give the Sagehens a 4-2 lead. 

The last point proved tricky, as Kyle Richter outlasted sophomore Graham Maassen in three sets at No. 3, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, to bring the Banana Slugs within 4-3 and then A.J. Flora took a three-setter from sophomore Josh Kim at No. 4 (2-6, 6-4, 6-4) to level the match 4-4. 

Bello had the slowest moving match at No. 5 against Chetan Munugala, taking a 7-5 win in the first set and falling 6-4 in the second. He broke to start the third set, and after he held to make the score 4-2, he broke again, coming back from 15-40 down with four straight points. With a chance to serve it out, he missed his first match point as Munugala got it to deuce, but after a service winner, Munugala missed long over the baseline as Bello and the Sagehens earned the win. 

Pomona-Pitzer will earn some much deserved rest before a home doubleheader on Friday, facing Gustavus Adolphus at 10 a.m. and Westmont at 4 p.m.