McMINNVILLE, ORE. – For the first time since 2010 the Wildcats defeat the Pirates of Whitworth. After falling to Whitman on Saturday, March 9^th the 'Cats bounced back to take down the Pirates 8-1.
 
Coach Belletto's Thoughts
"I'm really proud of the way we competed today. We started off strong in doubles, giving ourselves a nice cushion, "said head coach Ben Belletto. "Cam Ventura and Trent did a great job jumping to an early lead to set the tone energy-wise. Nathan and Luis continued to improve as a team and cemented our first point. Eric Rutherford played lights out today in all facets on the doubles court, and JT stirred up midway through the match to give us the edge."  
 
"In singles, all three of the first matches finished within 30 seconds of each other, clinching the match quickly. I was really proud of the way Nathan, Trent, and Luis competed today. Whitworth is always tough, and even though down, they (Whitworth) made adjustments, and continued to fight. We were able to make our adjustments and grab the wins. Our 4-6 singles guys had tough assignments with the result already decided, but I'm so proud of the way they went out and focused on their matches. Jake played clean tennis today from the first toss. Blake did a great job closing out guys match." 
 
The Wildcats started out the match on a high note as they took all three of the double's points. Linfield kept that momentum into their singles play as they only dropped one match. Nathan Saragoza picked up a good win at the number one position topping Jake Bethards 6-2, 6-2. At the number two position Luis Rojas also grabbed a win. Teammates Trent Prussing, Blake Fuentes Gilbert, and Jacob Mangan all notched wins for the Wildcats as well.  
 
Next
Linfield will take a week off from competition before they travel to California to take on Colby on Sunday, March 24^th at 4:00 p.m.