Photo by Will MacNeil
Claremont, CA – On Friday afternoon the Oxy men took on the Sagehens at their home courts. Although they lost the duel 8-1, the Tigers came out swinging, startling Pomona-Pitzer with some close matches.
The ultimate upset occurred at #1 Doubles where Matt O'Connor and Seth Lipe took the match over the pairing of Comadena and Kelley, a nationally ranked doubles team and a top-three team in the ITA West Region. O'Connor and Lipe won 8-6.
In singles, both O'Connor at #1 and Michael Abagyan at #3 had a close set in their respective matches, winning four games each. At the #2 spot, Sam Coan nearly took the first set. He gained an early lead, playing with confidence, and was up 5-2. His opponent stepped up as Coan faced the pressure of finishing out the set. After being tied up at 5-5, Coan pushed the set to a tiebreaker, which he narrowly lost 7-5.
At the remaining singles spots, the Tigers didn't let the Sagehens go easily. Seth Lipe, after his huge win at #1 Doubles, played a solid singles match at #4. He lost 6-3, 6-3. Brett Miller, a first-year, showed great potential in his close battle at #5. He lost in two 6-4 sets. Ridley Potter, another first-year, gave a great effort at #6, managing to snag 5 games from the Sagehens.
