Kingsmen Rally for Seventh Straight Win

CLU wards off Amherst 6-3

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Alex Nichols rallied in three sets to earn the decisive point for the Kingsmen against Amherst Tuesday.

Photo: Tracy Maple

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran men’s tennis team at points trailed in every singles match before rallying and warding off an upset-minded Amherst squad, defeating the Jeffs 6-3 Tuesday afternoon at the Poulson Tennis Center.

The Kingsmen looked as though they would cruise to their seventh straight win after the doubles portion of the match. The No. 1 pairing of Nicholas Ballou and Ray Worley dispatched Aaron Revzin and Andrew Scheiner 8-5 and Thomas Millet and Marcelo Sousa defeated Mark Kahan and Russell Einbinder 8-6 in the No. 2 doubles match.

Alex Nichols and Ian Slater were defeated by Andrew Yaraghi and Ben Fife in the No. 3 doubles contest 8-4 but CLU headed into the singles portion up 2-1.

Then things got dicey for the Kingsmen. Early in the singles matches, Cal Lutheran trailed in every single set. In fact, CLU lost the first set in four of the six singles matches.

Unfazed, Ballou began the CLU rally as he defeated Yaraghi in the No. 1 singles match 7-5, 6-3 and put CLU up 3-2.

The Jeffs evened the match when Revzin toppled Nick Jacobs 6-0, 6-2.

After dropping the first set 6-4, Millet regained his form and dropped Einbinder in the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 and pushed CLU back in front at 4-3.

Devon Belcher looked strong in the first set against Scheiner, winning 6-4, but eventually ran out of gas, falling in the next two sets 6-2 and 6-2.

In a dramatic back-and-forth match, Nichols earned the decisive point for CLU, rallying in three sets as he defeated Fife 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Moments later, Worley added the exclamation point to the match with a three-set victory over Kahan, winning 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and giving CLU its seventh-straight win.

Cal Lutheran (11-1) continues its non-conference schedule when it hosts No. 3 Williams on Wednesday, March 20, at 2:00 p.m.

Box Score: CLU 6 AMH 3
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