REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team saw their winning streak come to an end at four matches following a 6-3 loss to Amherst Wednesday afternoon.
The Bulldogs took on a tough Amherst squad along with battling illness, which proved the difference in the outcome. After taking two of three doubles the Maroon and Grey were unable to hold onto the edge dropping five of six singles matches en rout to losing a heartbreaker to the Mammoths.
Redlands got off to a hot start going in front 2-0 thanks to a pair of wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Max Hoffman (Taipei, Taiwan) and Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA) rolled to an 8-4 win and were followed by Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) and Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA) who needed a late break to pull out the 8-6 victory.
UR had a chance to sweep doubles at the top spot from Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA), but they were unable to come out on top allowing Amherst to get onto the scoreboard with an 8-7 (6) win in a breaker.
Despite the advantage, it wouldn't be enough as the Mammoths would take victories 1-5. Reznik gave the Bulldogs their third point pushing the lead back to two with a straight sets decision 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6. But after that it was all Amherst sweeping the next five matches to pull off the come from behind victory. Yip (6-2, 6-4) and Lilov (6-1, 6-3) dropped their respective matches at No. 3 and No. 4 giving momentum to the Mammoths, as they would tie the match up at 3-3. After that Mattox would fall in the No. 2 slot 6-1, 6-4 putting Amherst on top for the first time. The last two matches on went the distance with Hester forcing a decisive third at No. 1 after falling behind early. But his opponent would earn a break late to clinch the win 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Josh Nelson (Montrose, NY) found himself in a third set as well at No. 5. He held on for a 6-4 opening set win but gave it right back 6-1 in the second. Then in the third, he too was broken late and was unable to catch back up falling 6-3 in the third.
Redlands has a day of recovery before getting back to the courts this Friday and Saturday, March 18-19. They start off the weekend hosting Whitman College on March 18 (2:00pm) before traveling to take on Cal Lutheran on March 19 (10:00am), which opens up Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play.
Coach's Thoughts
"We fought hard today against a historically Top 10 team in Amherst. Unfortunately a couple of matches didn't swing our way, but a lot of positives came out of the loss. It's never easy to swallow a loss, but we are hungry to get back out onto the practice court."
Coach's Shoutout
"Thomas Reznik came out firing in doubles and never let up in singles. I am really happy for him picking up a couple of big wins for us today. Much deserved after how hard he has been working this week."