The No. 19 University of Redlands men's tennis team earned split results on the opening day of the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament on Friday to move onto tomorrow's fifth-place match.  After suffering a heartbreaker to No. 23 Whittier College, the Bulldogs showed great poise and determination by bouncing back with a solid 7-2 victory over Caltech.

Against the Poets, the Maroon and Gray grabbed the first point with an 8-2 victory by the No. 2 doubles team of junior Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) and freshman Tom Suchodolski (Amherst, MA). 

However, Whittier stormed back by taking the remaining two matches for a 2-1 advantage.

Nonetheless, Redlands rebounded in singles, with junior Teddy Jones (St. Louis, MO) prevailing at No. 6, 6-4, 6-2, before Lipscomb pushed past his No. 1 foe, 7-6(4), 7-6(3).

Leading 3-2, the Bulldogs moved to within one of the victory when Suchodolski came up with a 6-3, 7-5 triumph at No. 3 singles.

But Whittier mounted an impressive comeback, edging the Bulldogs in two three-setters while also winning a pair of tiebreaks.

The Maroon and Gray had little time to dwell on the loss, as it took the courts against Caltech later that afternoon. 

This time, the Bulldogs garnered a 2-1 lead after the doubles, with juniors Max Licona (Los Angeles, CA) and Jones earning an 8-4 win at the top spot, and junior Ted Burchett (Gold River, CA) and freshman Jake Ly (Torrance, CA) tallying an 8-3 decision at No. 3.

Redlands was nearly flawless in singles, taking five of the six matches in straight sets.  Jones, Licona, and Lipscomb put this one in the books for the Bulldogs, while freshman Parker Wilson (Carlsbad, CA) and Suchodolski also took care of business.

Redlands (11-12, 5-4 SCIAC) faces off against Chapman University in the fifth-place match on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Cal State Northridge's Matador Tennis Complex.