Claremont, CA - The 14th-ranked Trinity University Men's Tennis Team battled through two highly competitive matches on Saturday at the Stag-Hen Classic, falling 4-2 to 6th-ranked Johns Hopkins University and narrowly dropping a 4-3 decision to 16th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.

Due to a heat warning in the Claremont area, yesterday's matchup against Johns Hopkins was postponed until this morning following the completion of doubles play. Before the delay, Aashish Dhanani (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and Conor Kaczmarczyk (Aurora, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) earned a convincing 6-2 win at #3. The 8th-ranked duo of Ethan Flores (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) and Roshin Kamath (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) was narrowly defeated 7-6 (8-6) at #2, leveling the doubles score. The Tigers secured the doubles point at #1, as the 23rd-ranked pairing of Kishan Kersten (Plano, Texas / West) and Jared Perry (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) battled to a 7-6 (11-9) tiebreak victory over their 24th-ranked opponents to give Trinity a 1-0 lead.

In singles, Johns Hopkins responded by resetting this morning to shift the momentum their way. First off the court was Dhanani at #3, who fell 6-1, 6-3 to his 48th-ranked opponent to even the match at 1-1. The Blue Jays then took the lead with a 6-3, 7-6 result over Perry at #2. Trinity answered back as Ryan Warren (Keller, Texas / Connection Academy) delivered a strong three-set performance at #4, rallying from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and level the score at 2-2.

The remaining matches proved decisive in favor of Johns Hopkins. Kersten battled at #1 but fell in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 2-6 to his 23rd-ranked opponent to give JHU the edge. Shortly after, the Blue Jays clinched the match at #6, where Kamath dropped a tight three-set contest 6-4, 5-7, 2-6. The unfinished match at #5 was left with Johns Hopkins leading 5-7, 7-5, 2-3 to secure the 4-2 victory for the Blue Jays.

In the afternoon contest against Pomona-Pitzer, Trinity came out firing in doubles play, sweeping the completed matches to take a 1-0 lead. Kersten and Perry set the tone with a 6-4 win over their 6th-ranked opponents at #1, followed by a clutch 7-6 (7-4) tiebreak victory from Flores and Kamath at #2. The #3 match went unfinished once they had clinched the point.

Singles play began on a positive note for the Tigers as Flores was first off the court at #6 with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win, extending the lead to 2-0. Pomona-Pitzer responded quickly, however, with straight-set wins at #2 and #4. Perry fell 6-2, 6-2 at #2, and Warren lost 6-4, 6-2 at #4 to even the match at 2-2.

Kersten delivered a standout performance at #1, defeating his opponent 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) to put Trinity 3-2 in front. With the Tigers needing just one more point, Pomona-Pitzer surged late. The Sagehens tied the match at 3-3, as Dhanani fell 7-6 (12-10), 6-4 at #3, before clinching the dual at #5 as Ivan Nikolovski (Alpine, N.J. / Dwight Global) fell in another tightly contested three-set battle, 6-7, 6-3, 4-6.

Despite strong efforts throughout the lineup and a doubles sweep to start the match, Trinity came up just short in a 4-3 loss to close out the day.

Up Next

The 14th-ranked Trinity University Men's Tennis team will look to bounce back as they open up SAA play with a trip to Danville, Kentucky, where they will face off against Centre College on Saturday, March 28th, at 9:00 a.m. (ET),  before making the trip to Sewanee, Tennessee, to match up against Sewanee University on Sunday, March 29th, at 9:00 a.m.