REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team won their third in a row Saturday afternoon taking down Occidental College 6-3 inside the Verdieck Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs recognized their four seniors at the conclusion of the match, which included Donovan Lilov (San Diego, CA), Stefan Hester (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA), Nils Plutat (Sauerlach, Bavaria, Germany), and Bryce Keim (Spartanburg, S.C.).
Redlands swept doubles action to take an early lead and went on to split singles en route to their fifth win within conference. They are now 10-7, 5-2 SCIAC on the season.
Hester and Jack Mattox (Mercer Island, WA grabbed the first point at No. 2 winning 8-3. Tyler Pyle (Lake Oswego, OR) and Michael Dudley (Baton Rouge, LA) followed with a win in a breaker at No. 3 pulling out an 8-7 (1) win. Then Keim and Plutat would wrap up things at the top spot also grinding out a win in a breaker 8-7 (7).
The momentum carried over into singles with Lilov picking up the fourth point for UR coming in dominant fashion at No. 5 6-0, 6-2. The clinch then came at No. 3 from Keim who blanked his opponent in the first set 6-0 before grabbing a break in the second 6-3.
Oxy stopped the surge at No. 6 with a win as Josh Davydov (Bellevue, WA) would fall 6-3, 6-2. Mattox would grab that point right back at No. 4 needing a break in each set to pull out the 6-4, 6-4 win. The last two matches on came at the top two spots with the Tigers taking both in a pair of grueling bouts. Hester stormed out to a quick lead 6-1 at No. 2, but could not hold it as he would drop the next two frames 7-5, 10-8. The last match on was Plutat and what a match he had at No. 1 with O'Connor going to two breakers, ultimately falling 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).
The Bulldogs have clinched a spot in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament, set to played April 28-29. They are waiting for the rest of the SCIAC schedule to be completed to determine their seeding and opponent.