REDLANDS, Calif. – The No. 30-ranked Southwestern University Pirates men's tennis team picked up a big win on the road against the University of Redlands, upsetting the No. 18-ranked team 5-4 in the first match of the Pirates' first California trip.
Alexander Joseph and Dean Dulthummon picked up a key victory in No. 2 doubles, defeating Thomas Rezuik and Andrew Yip 8-4 to prevent Redlands from sweeping doubles.
"Dean and Alex got us a huge doubles point to put us in position going into singles, which we desperately needed," Head Coach Billy Porter said.
Down 2-1 after doubles, Hunter Bajoit evened the score with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Donovan Lilou. The Redlands took the next two matches with Andrew Yip defeating Steven Tibbetts in straight sets and Basyl Libao defeating Dulthummon in three sets (6-1, 4-6, 6-3).
Trailing 2-4 with the remaining three matches each going into the third and final set, the Pirates rallied, starting with Vesko Lekovic combing back from a 6-3 first-set loss to defeat Bard Cummins 6-4 and 6-1 over the final two sets. Joseph recovered from a close first-set loss to win a pair of 6-2 sets to claim a point over Rezuik.
No. 24-ranked singles player and Pirate All-American Alexis Dimanche proved his value in the clutch, clinching the match in three sets, winning two by a score of 7-5.
"Vesko played a poor first set and then turned it on at 3-4 in the second and never looked back," Porter said. "Alexis went down an early break in the third and continued to fight and battle, finding a way to squeak out the match 7-5 win to take down the No. 18-ranked team in the country."
With the victory, the Pirates improve to 3-0 on the season with all three wins coming on the road. The Pirates will remain in California to face the No. 24-ranked California Institute of Technology, featuring Varun Shanker and James Wei, the No. 8-ranked doubles team in Division III. Wei is also the No. 13-ranked singles player in the West Region.
For more SU Pirate photos, please see Carlos Barron Photography
When you upset the #18 on the road #besouthwestern pic.twitter.com/m6yzCNxNvk
— Southwestern Tennis (@SUPiratesTennis) February 16, 2020