Story courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The 13th-ranked Trinity University men's tennis team opened its eighth consecutive NCAA Division III Championship Tournament with a 5-2 second-round victory over #14 Whitman (WA) College on Friday afternoon.
After falling behind early in doubles, the Tigers rallied with two victories to take a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play.
Chas Mayer and Clayton Niess took the second line to tie the match 1-1, then Liam Crawley and Jordan Pitts put Trinity in the lead.
Despite losing the momentum as the teams went to singles, Whitman was able to snag the first win off the board and tie things up 2-2 with the Tigers.
Trinity's respons was three straight-set singles wins to clinch the match. Mayer got things started from line one, followed by McKenna Futitani taking the sixth match. Niess secured the win with his line five clincher.
The Tigers won their sixth straight match and improved to 17-10, while Whitman completed its season at 24-7. Trinity was a 5-4 winner over Whitman on April 8 in Tyler, Texas.
Mayer and Niess now stand at 18-4 as a doubles team, while Crawley and Pitts are 16-11.
Mayer improved his singles mark to 11-8.
The Tigers will take on the third-ranked host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday. The third-round winner advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals, which begin on May 22 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.