The University of Redlands men's tennis team embarked upon the 2017-18 campaign with its annual trek to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) West Regional Championships in nearby Claremont over the weekend. Overall, the squad enjoyed a solid showing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with junior Chase Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) highlighting the Bulldogs' performance by taking home the singles championship with impressive results.
As the seventh seed, Lipscomb began the tournament with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Jack Bernstein of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges before taking down Alfred Simental of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges by scores of 6-4, 6-4. He continued to battle in the next round with a comeback effort against Pomona-Pitzer's Octave Bellet that resulted in a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 decision. During the quarterfinals, he ran into his teammate, freshman Cameron Krimbill (Scottsdale, AZ), who shined in his inaugural tournament with the Bulldogs. Lipscomb prevailed over the familiar foe, 6-4, 6-0, to propel him onto the semifinal against CMS' Avinash Vemuri. In a high-quality performance, he continued to roll with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) showing that landed him in the championship match against Pomona-Pitzer's Jed Kronenberg, who happened to be the fourth seed. Nonetheless, Lipscomb remained tough and secured the singles title by scores of 6-4, 6-2.
Not only does Lipscomb walk away victorious, he also earns ITA All-America honors for the second time in his career and punched his ticket to the ITA Fall National Championship in Rome, GA, on October 12-14.
Aside from Lipscomb's success, Krimbill impressed by knocking off the two-seed from CMS, Nikolai Parodi, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round. He remained triumphant in the subsequent two rounds, with a 6-4, 6-2 effort against Avery Bicks of Pomona-Pitzer and a 6-0, 6-2 decision against CMS' Matthew Jacobs to advance to the quarterfinals.
Finally, senior Joey Dulle (St. Louis, MO) represented Redlands well in the consolation singles bracket by winning that championship. After falling in a tough three-setter to open the tournament, he quickly regrouped to defeat Occidental College's Lucas Chmielewski, 6-3, 2-6, 10-3. He rallied back to outlast Lucas Tilly of Cal Lutheran University, 2-6, 6-3, 11-9, before downing Pomona-Pitzer's Joey Schwartz, 6-1, 6-1. Dulle took out two additional players from the Sagehens' lineup by defeating Justin Gearou, 6-3, 6-2, and Samuel Gearou, 6-4, 1-6, 10-2, for the consolation trophy.
The Redlands men's tennis team looks forward to the annual alumni match on Saturday, January 27, before jumping back into competition on Saturday, February 3, for a pair of exhibition matches against Arizona Christian University and Azusa Pacific University.
