Pioneers pick off Panthers

FAIRFIELD — When Maharishi and Mt. Pleasant met on the tennis courts at Punj Tennis Center earlier this year, the Pioneers had to scratch and claw for a one-point win. On Tuesday, Maharishi did it again, beating Mt. Pleasant 5-4 for the second time this season.

Maharishi and Mt. Pleasant split in singles, taking three games apiece. The Pioneers won the top two games.

Maharishi’s Romil Patel narrowly outlasted David Nguyen 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(5) in the No. 1 match. Budhil Thijm swept Jack Schimmelpfennig 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 match, and Dominic Dupaux defeated Jake Ensminger 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 6 game.

Mt. Pleasant’s Owen Vansickel won a tight No. 3 game over James Nguyen, taking it 5-7, 6-3, 1-0(8). Levi Graber beat Polo Altinski-Ross 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(8) in the No. 4 game, and Lincoln Henriksen beat Jayanta Wegman 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 5 game.

Mt. Pleasant won the top doubles game, as the team of Schimmelpfennig and Vansickel beat Patel and Thijm 9-8(0), but Maharishi took the next two.

Maharishis’s No. 2 team of James Nguyen and Altinski-Ross beat David Nguyen and Brian Huynh 8-4, and the No. 3 team of Wegman and Dupaux took down Henriksen and Ensminger 8-5.