REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team faced another Division III Nationally Ranked opponent Saturday, the fourth of the week as the Bulldogs fell 8-1 to No. 8 Tufts University.
The Maroon and Grey looked to make it two in a row after edging UC Santa Cruz 5-4 Friday afternoon, but the strength of schedule on the week took a toll on the Bulldogs picking up just one win on the afternoon.
Tufts jumped out in front quickly grabbing an early point at No. 2 doubles, as Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA) and Andrew Yip (Honolulu, HI) would fall 8-2. Max Hoffman (Taipei, Taiwan) and Luke Watson (Bury St. Edmunds, UK) were then put together at No. 3 and despite creating some early pushback were unable to keep it close as they would drop 8-4. The opportunity for the Bulldogs to grab a point came at No. 1 from Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Thomas Reznik (Belmont, CA) who were broken late at 8-6 allowing Tufts to go out in front 3-0.
In singles Redlands attempted a comeback with three matches going the distance, but they all would go to their opponents, as UR would take five of six matches. The lone point for the Maroon and Grey came at No. 4 from Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA) who after taking the first set in a breaker 7-6 (2) was able to cruise 6-2 in the second.
Hester had a chance at the top taking the opening frame 6-2, but was unable to keep the momentum as he would drop the next two sets 6-1, 6-3. Josh Nelson at No. 5 also competed in a three-setter winning the first 7-6 (6), but he too was unable to build off of it dropping the next two sets 6-1, 6-4. The final three setter came from Reznik at No. 6 who was forced to come from behind splitting the two sets 4-6, 6-4. But in the third he couldn't find that extra gear falling 6-2.
Mattox and Yip were the other two players in the lineup at No. 2 and No. 3, but they both would fall in tight straight setters 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4, 7-5, respectively.
Redlands gets back out onto the courts this Friday, April 1 when they travel to Orange County to take on Chapman University beginning at 3:00pm.
Coach's Thoughts
"We had opportunities today but couldn't capitalize unfortunately. The overall score line does not reflect the match as a whole. We battled hard in both singles and doubles, Tufts was just the better team today. We are looking forward to a couple days off before getting back to the SCIAC schedule."
Coach's Shoutout
"Donovan Lilov had a solid win for us at No. 4 singles. I am really happy with him and how he has played this season. He has come up clutch on a number of occasions."