The 18th-ranked University of Redlands men's tennis team battled it out with the No. 10 Bowdoin College (ME) Polar Bears on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference showdown on Verdieck Courts. After rolling through the doubles, the Bulldogs struggled to close it out in singles, resulting in the tough 4-5 loss.
The Maroon and Gray impressed during the doubles action, with the No. 3 tandem of freshman Joey Dulle (St. Louis, MO) and sophomore Jake Ly (Torrance, CA) setting the tone with an 8-2 decision. Seniors Nick Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) followed suit with the same result at the No. 1 slot. Seniors Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) and Ted Burchett (Gold River, CA) completed the sweep by dismissing their No. 2 opponents, 8-4.
Unfortunately, the singles matches were a completely different story, as Bowdoin prevailed in straight sets at Nos. 5, 3, and 4 to bring the overall score to three apiece.
Cummins stepped up for the Maroon and Gray with his 6-4, 6-4 effort at the No. 2 slot, giving his team a slight edge at 4-3.
However, the Polar Bears answered right back with a win at No. 6 in two sets.
With the deciding point up for grabs, the No. 1 singles match provided plenty of drama. Lipscomb muscled out a 7-6(3) victory in the first set, before Bowdoin rallied for a 7-5 win in the second. But the third set went in favor of the visitors, resulting in the tough 4-5 defeat for Redlands.
Redlands (9-4) returns to action on Tuesday, March 24, when it hosts Pacific University (OR) in a 3 p.m. non-conference bout on Verdieck Courts.
