REDLANDS, Calif. – In an excellent back-and-forth match, the Tufts University men's tennis team completed its spring break trip to California with a 5-4 victory at the University of Redlands on Saturday.
The match was tied at 3-3 when Jumbo sophomore Owen Bartok and freshman Paris Pentousis closed out singles victories to secure the team win.
The #22 ranked Jumbos (4-3 overall) went 4-2 during their trip. Redlands, ranked 34th nationally, dropped to 6-3 overall. The loss stopped a six-match winning streak by the Bulldogs.
Redlands had their only lead of the day when Chase Lipscomb and Andrew Leahy won 8-0 in third doubles. Tufts captured the other two matches to take a 2-1 lead. The top Jumbo pair of Boris Sorkin and Nathan Niemic won 8-3 and the #2 duo of Carl-Herman Grant and Zach Shaff had an 8-5 victory.
Lipscomb defeated Sorkin 6-1, 6-3 in first singles to even the match at 2-2. The Jumbos never fell behind, as freshman Isaac Gorelik posted a 7-5, 6-2 third-singles win to put Tufts back in front 3-2. However, Brysl Libao brought Redlands even again with a 6-2, 6-4 win at #5.
After Bartok's 6-4, 6-1 sixth singles win gave Tufts a 4-3 advantage, Pentousis won a third set at #2 to defeat Redlands' Leahy 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and win the match for Tuts.
The Bulldogs tightened the final score to 5-4 with Brad Cummins' three-set victory in fourth singles (4-6, 6-2, 6-3).
Tufts returns to action back home at Amherst on Saturday. Redlands is off until next Friday when they host Pacific (Ore.).
