ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Bowdoin College men's tennis team couldn't close out Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in an NCAA semifinal match on Wednesday afternoon as the Stags outlasted the Polar Bears in a 5-4 decision. The loss finishes a fantastic season for the Polar Bears, who end the year as the 2024 NESCAC Champions, Division III semifinalists, and the second-most wins in program history (22-7 overall record). CMS advances to play Chicago in the national championship match Friday.
Match Highlights
- The Polar Bears won a pair of convincing doubles matches to take an early advantage in Wednesday's match. Pieter Breuker and Andrew Mendelson earned an 8-4 win at number three while Tristan Bradley and Reid Staples claimed an 8-5 victory at number one to give the Polar Bears a 2-1 edge heading into singles.
- About 45 minutes into singles play, a weather delay resulted in a three-hour delay in action.
- CMS came out hot after the break, winning the first three completed singles matches to take a 4-2 overall lead.
- Bowdoin clawed back as Mark Kneiss earned a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win and Reid Staples took a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback victory to even the score at 4-4 overall.
- At number one singles, Tristan Bradley had a chance to close out his opponent in the second set, and eventually lost in a tiebreaker. A close-fought third set resulted in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (7-1), 4-6 defeat that gave CMS the win.
- Bowdoin's 22 wins this season were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 23 wins by the 2018 squad. The Polar Bears also won their first NESCAC crown and reached the national semifinals for the first time since that same 2018 season.
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