Kyle McCann and Sean Yun during a doubles match against Middlebury.
Kyle McCann and Sean Yun during a doubles match against Middlebury.

UCR men’s tennis defeated Middlebury College 5-2, on Thursday, March 31, ending Middlebury’s seven-game winning streak. This was the team’s 12th win,  surpassing UCR’s previous Division I record of 10 wins in UCR’s Division I history.

Seniors Julian Ruffin and Sean Robles won their doubles matches, 6-2, while teammates, senior Hans Baumstark and freshman Andersen Ju, fought for a 7-5 victory, earning the Highlanders their second victory.

In singles play, Ruffin again succeeded, winning 6-2, followed by Robles, who won 6-4, 6-2. Freshman Kyle McCann lost his first set to Middlebury’s Palmer Campbell, 3-6, but later came back to prevail in the final two sets 6-3, 6-4.

Coach Mattias Johnson was greatly pleased with their victory, considering the success Middlebury has had this season, telling gohighlander.com, “Middlebury is one (of) the favorite(s) to win the (Division 3) National Championship — so they are a very tough team. Great comeback at no. 3 doubles after being down 5-1. Really happy for our seniors who are now part of UCR history with this season’s 12th win, they had just nine total wins their first three seasons.”
On Saturday, April 2, the Highlanders faced off with the UC Davis Aggies and lost 7-0. Their failure to earn a single point was a disappointment to Johansson who told reporters the Highlanders were “sloppy and unfocused” in doubles play. Currenty sitting at an overall record of 12-11, UCR comes back this Friday, April 8, against Cal Poly.