CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 14 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Tennis Team defended their home ground on Saturday afternoon, defeating conference foe Cal Lutheran 7-2 and taking down UC Santa Cruz 8-1.
Season Impact: The Sagehens improve to an 11-4 record overall and are 3-0 in conference play.
Sagehens def. Cal Lutheran 7-2
The Sagehens got off to a slow start, dropping two doubles matches to the Kingsmen. Kalyan Chadalavada and Octave Bellet paired together in no. 1 for the first time this season and dropped a close 8-6 match. Over in no. 2, Jacob Schoenherr and Marko Mandic fell 8-5, but Avery Bicks and Jed Kronenberg prevailed in a thrilling tiebreaker in no. 3, winning 8-7 (5).
Pomona-Pitzer responded by overwhelming the Kingsmen in singles. Octave Bellet played his first conference match in no. 1 and impressed with a pair of convincing 6-1 sets. Josh Gearou defeated Ransom Braaten in no. 2 by retirement and Marko Mandic handled his no. 3 match over Lucas Tilly with a 7-5 and 6-0 win. Sam Malech improved his singles record to 9-2 after winning his no. 4 match 6-2 and 6-1 while Sam Gearou took down the no. 5 with a 6-2 and 6-0 win. To cap it off, Jack Bernstein won his no. 6 match over Kylel Gillam 6-1 and 6-2.
Sagehens def. UC Santa Cruz 8-1
Chadalavada and Bellet bounced back in their second venture as a doubles pair, winning their no. 1 match 8-5. Bicks paired up with Mandic in no. 2 and took down Magnus Ibh and AJ Flora in a tight 9-7 victory. To secure the doubles sweep, Hirsohn and Bernstein worked to an 8-6 win in no. 3 doubles over Chad Le Duff and Floyd Penners.
Kronenberg extended his singles record to 12-1 this season after taking down Le Duff 6-4 and 6-3. Bellet capped his perfect day in singles with a 6-4 and 7-5 victory over Ibh in no. 2, but Josh Gearou dropped his no. 3 match 6-2 and 7-6 (5). Sam Malech earned a pair of 6-1 wins in no. 5 singles over Ryan Dugan and Mandic took down AJ Flora with a 6-3 and 7-6 (6) victory. Schoenherr had little trouble in no. 6, defeating Penners 6-3 and 6-0.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Williams College tomorrow at 12 p.m.
