REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team was forced to come from behind yet again, this time needing to erase a 3-0 deficit against No. 35 UC Santa Cruz.
Somehow the Maroon and Grey made it happen making up ground in singles, taking five of six matches to hold on for the win. With the victory Redlands snaps their two game losing skid and improves to 7-4, 1-0 SCIAC.
Head Coach Peter Yellico decided to make a change at No. 3 doubles for the match putting together freshmen Alex Atwell (San Diego, CA) and Andrew Somerville (Kailua, HI), and despite showing signs of strong play they couldn't overcome a couple of breaks as they fell 8-5. The No. 2 team of Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) and Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA) was a shocking loss at No. 2 after they have been putting together some grinds together recently. They also lost 8-5 giving UCSC a 2-0 lead. The last match on was Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA) at the top and neither team was able to gain any advantage throughout the match forcing it to go to a tiebreaker, which the Banana Slugs would pull out 8-7 (2) putting UR in an early hole.
But singles is the strength of the program for the Bulldogs and they didn't go away quietly since they have been in this position before having to come back against Hardin-Simmons University a week ago. Reznik found his footing at No. 6 and got things rolling with a straight sets win 6-1, 6-3 and Mattox obtained a break in each set at No. 2 winning 6-4, 6-3 getting the Maroon and Grey within one. But the momentum would go back to UC Santa Cruz as they would grab a point at No. 5 singles seeing Varade edge Max Hoffman (Taipei, Taiwan) 6-4, 6-3 to move them a point away from the upset.
The final three matches all went the distance and UR found themselves down a set in each one of them, making the comeback even more impressive. After dropping a 6-2 opening frame at the top spot, Hester came back to win in a breaker 7-6 (2) in the second set before rolling 6-2 in the third giving UR three points. Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA) was next at No. 4 who was broken once in the opening set at 6-4 before rolling his opponent 6-2, 6-0 deadlocking the match at 4-4.
Yip, the senior leader was the last one on court and he provided the fireworks for the Bulldog faithful. After dropping a tight breaker 7-6 (5) in the first set was able to come back to take the next two frames 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the come from behind victory for the University of Redlands.
Redlands has no break and will now faceoff against No. 8 Tufts University, tomorrow, Saturday, March 26 beginning at 11:00am.
Coach's Thoughts
"It has been a tough week, but the men deserve a ton of credit with this schedule they are facing. I couldn't be more proud of how they are battling against one nationally ranked program after the next. When their backs are against the wall they continue to find ways to win and today they did just that. Looking forward to another grind against No. 8 Tufts tomorrow."
Coach's Shoutout
"Andrew Yip put together one of his best matches on the season at No. 3 singles, clinching the match for us after being down a set, losing a tiebreaker. I am really happy with this win for him today. He stayed in the moment, trusted his game and was able to battle back to earn the epic win for the program."