REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team picked up their biggest win on the season thus far Thursday morning upsetting the No. 18 ranked team in Division III University of Mary Washington 5-4.
The match, which was scheduled for this Saturday, March 5 was moved to Thursday morning with inclement weather in the future forecast. With the win the Bulldogs improve to 1-1.
The Maroon and Grey got off to a quick start with a win at No. 2 doubles from Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA) and Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA) earning a late break to beat Hutchison/DeSilva 8-5. The Eagles leveled the match soon after at No. 3 with Leese/Tecce, the No. 18 ranked team in the country beating Josh Nelson (Montrose, NY) and Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA) 8-4. The advantage then came down to the top team in Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) who were edged in a breaker 8-7 (3) to Shankar/Spera giving UMW a 2-1 advantage.
In singles the Bulldogs flipped the script taking four of six matches, two of which went the distance, including the eventual clincher. Nelson got to work quickly at No. 6 and leveled the match at 2-2 with a lopsided 6-2, 6-1 victory over Hart. Yip, despite fighting in a second set breaker, was unable to force a third at No. 2 falling 6-1, 7-6 (9) putting the Eagles back on top. Then came the middle of the lineup for Redlands with Mattox and Lilov taking victories at No. 3 and No. 4, which swung the momentum. Mattox needed a break in each set to beat Sperna 6-4, 6-4 and Lilov, after holding on in an opening breaker 7-6 (1) rolled in the second set 6-1, giving UR a 4-3 advantage.
It then came down to the final two matches on court. Reznik at No. 5 went in front early taking the opening frame 6-3, but couldn't carry the momentum as Tecce would storm back to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-3 that deadlocked the match at 4-4. Then at No. 1 it was Hester who remained composed taking on the No. 9 ranked singles player in Division III Moses Hutchison for the deciding point. Hester was forced to come from a set down (6-3) and managed to pull off the biggest upset of his career needing two tiebreakers to clinch the win for the Bulldogs 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).
Redlands returns to the courts tomorrow, Friday, March 4 at the Verdieck Tennis Courts for a match-up with Christopher Newport beginning at 2:00pm.
Coach's Thoughts
"We came out a little bit flat and rusty with doubles, but really turned it around in singles. I'm super proud of the guys for flipping the page and battling after some disappointing doubles matches. I am looking forward to carrying this momentum into tomorrow's match with Christopher Newport."
Coach's Shoutout
"Stefan Hester really dug deep to pull out one of his biggest wins of his collegiate career at No. 1 singles. A quality victory that clinched the match against a player ranked No. 9 in the country. Extremely happy for Stef, he has been working hard both on and off the court and it really showed today."