CLAREMONT, Calif. – After two grueling matches against two teams in the Top 15, the No. 1 University of Chicago men's tennis team fell in a tight 6-3 match against a spirited No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps squad Friday on the Stags' home courts.

The Maroons (11-1) started off the match on a high note after capturing 2-of-3 doubles matches, as Erik Kerrigan and Ninan Kumar (8-3) and Charlie Pei and Joshua Xu each teamed up to win at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

But three straight-set wins for CMS (15-1) at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 6 singles swung the momentum back to the hosts, before the Stags were able to clinch the match in a win at No. 4 singles.

First-year Joshua Xu was the lone Maroon to win in singles play, defeating CMS' Robert Liu in three sets, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-5).

Senior Charlie Pei's match at No. 3 also went to three sets, where he eventually fell to the Stags' Julian Gordy, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).

UChicago finished its Spring Break trip to California with a 2-1 record, defeating both No. 13 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 6 Williams by scores of 5-4.

#4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6, #1 UChicago 3
Singles
1. Jack Katzman (CMS) def. Kerrigan, Erik (UCM) 6-1, 6-4
2. Nikolai Parodi (CMS) def. Yuan, Jeremy (UCM) 6-2, 6-0
3. Julian Gordy (CMS) def. Pei, Charlie (UCM) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
4. Daniel Park (CMS) def. Rodriguez, Alejandro (UCM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Xu, Joshua (UCM) def. Robert Liu (CMS) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-5)
6. Nic Meister (CMS) def. Guzhva, Alex (UCM) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1. Jack Katzman/Robert Liu (CMS) def. Raclin, Tyler/Yuan, Jeremy (UCM) 8-6
2. Kerrigan, Erik/Kumar, Ninan (UCM) def. Julian Gordy/Jake Williams (CMS) 8-3
3. Pei, Charlie/Xu, Joshua (UCM) def. Daniel Park/Oscar Burney (CMS) 8-7 (7-5)

NEXT MATCH:

• Thursday, April 4: Illinois Tech at #1 UChicago, 4P CT