College Tennis News - Sun shines as Poets lose to Stags, 8-1

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Feb. 21, 2009

CLAREMONT, Calif. – One day after it suffered a tough loss to nationally ranked Pomona-Pitzer the Whittier College men’s tennis team lost to No. 3 and 2008 National Semifinalists Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 8-1, at the David X. Marks and Ben F. Smith Tennis Courts.

The Poets avoided the sweep due to the play of freshman Frank Sun who moved from No. 6 singles to No. 5 singles for the match. Sun improved to 5-0 on the season with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Spencer MacColl.

The Bellevue, Wash., native trailed 5-2 in the first set but ran off five consecutive games to take the set 7-5.

The Poets started off strong in all three doubles matches but the Stags were able gain control as they eased to wins. The No. 1 doubles ended 8-3 while No. 2 and No. 3 doubles both finished 8-2.

The Poets remained competitive against the national powerhouse in all of the singles matches. Whittier’s No. 1 singles player, Sean Robertson, lost 6-4, 6-2, while No. 2 Justin DeLong and No. 3 Patricio Carregha went down 6-4, 6-3.

Lance Franey lost 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4 singles and Taylor Dimler fell 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.

"We were basically competitive in every singles match, which has not been the case in the past against this team," said head coach David Bojalad. "We have been on the losing end of quite a few six-love sets against the Stags and were happy to avoid any this time around. This match gave us, if nothing else, belief that we can play with anyone."

The Poets return to action on Saturday, February 28, as they face Occidental at 9:30 a.m. at the Burbank Tennis Center.

Results

Doubles

1. Sabater/Zyskind (CMS) def. Robertson/DeLong (WC) 8-3
2. Keiffer/Wei (CMS) def. Carregha/Franey (WC) 8-2
3. MacColl/Wiener (CMS) def. Smith/Sun (WC) 8-2

Singles

1. Drew Sabater (CMS) def. Sean Robertson (WC) 6-4, 6-2
2. Ben Weiner (CMS) def. Justin DeLong (WC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Ari Zyskind (CMS) def. Patricio Carregha (WC) 6-4, 6-3
4. Thomas Keiffer (CMS) def. Lance Franey (WC) 6-3, 6-2
5. Frank Sun (WC) def. Spencer MacColl (CMS) 7-5, 6-3
6. Brandon Wei (CMS) def. Taylor Dimler (WC) 6-3, 6-1