The 13th-ranked University of Redlands men's tennis team opened the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament on Friday in Pasadena, earning a spot in tomorrow's third-place match against No. 34 Cal Lutheran University with split results.  The Bulldogs rolled to a 5-0 win over the Occidental College Tigers to start the day, but came up short of repeating the upset over No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer in a 4-5 heartbreaker.

Against the Tigers, the Maroon and Gray swept the doubles in impressive fashion, as the three teams combined to drop only five games between them.  Sophomore Jake Ly (Torrance, CA) and freshman Joey Dulle (St. Louis, MO) came off the court first with their 8-2 performance at No. 3, while seniors Gram Leahy (Portland, OR) and Ted Burchett (Gold River, CA) blanked their No. 3 opponents, 8-0.  Seniors Nick Cummins (Rancho Mirage, CA) and Patrick Lipscomb (Irvine, CA) kept the Bulldogs perfect with their 8-3 triumph at the top spot.

In singles, senior Taylor Hunt (Seattle, WA) kept up the dominating scores with his 6-0, 6-0 showing at No. 4, while Cummins officially sealed the deal for Redlands by dismissing his No. 2 foe, 6-2, 6-0.

Lipscomb was moments away from winning his match at No. 1, 6-3, 5-2, but the overall match had already been decided.

During the SCIAC semifinal, Redlands squared off against the Sagehens in a rematch that promised to provide plenty of drama and excitement.  The Bulldogs recently defeated the high-ranked foes from Pomona-Pitzer in a 5-4 showdown, but Friday's contest went the way of the Sagehens by the same score. 

In doubles, Lipscomb and Cummins came out firing on all cylinders and secured an 8-4 victory at the top slot. 

But the Sagehens rallied to take the remaining matches, 8-6 and 8-5, for a 2-1 advantage.

Nonetheless, Cummins continued to impress by taking down his No. 2 foe, 6-2, 6-1, to even the overall score at two apiece.  Leahy put Redlands in front by stepping up with a 6-4, 6-2 decision at No. 6.

However, Pomona-Pitzer stormed back to prevail at Nos. 3, 4, and 5 in straight sets, before Lipscomb nabbed the Bulldogs' fourth point with his solid 6-3, 7-5 victory at No. 1.

Redlands (16-8, 7-2 SCIAC) now faces Cal Lutheran in the third-place match at Scholl Canyon Club on Saturday at 10 a.m.