Men's tennis snaps skid with comeback win over Cal Lutheran

ORANGE, Calif. – After a few years without a SCIAC win, the Chapman University men's tennis team has ended the slide. The Panthers (2-0, 1-0 SCIAC) defeated visiting Cal Lutheran 5-4 to end a 15-match SCIAC losing streak.

The Panthers last SCIAC win came in 2017 when the Panthers defeated Occidental on Apr. 21, 2017 That slide ended Chapman took four of the six singles matches to post the comeback victory.

The Panthers fell behind early when Cal Lutheran took two-of-three doubles matches. Freshman Caleb Wilkins and sophomore Adrien Rooney salvaged the point with a tiebreak win on the No. 1 court. The pair snagged the 8-7 (7-5) win to get Chapman's first point.

Rooney breezed to a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 while freshman Joshua Blinder won by the reverse score on court five – 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Steven Ferry also took a straight set win with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6.

Wilkins needed a tiebreaker to get out of his first set on top but then swept through the second set for the 7-6 (7-5) clinching victory at No. 1.

With the losing skid behind them, the Panthers continue their near season-long homestand in the month of March. Chapman hosts Christopher Newport at 1 p.m. on Mar. 1.