The Linfield men's tennis team began its 2022-23 campaign Sunday at the L&C/LIN/UPS - One Day Event bat the Lewis & Clark Tennis Bubble. The event served as a warmup for next week's ITA Fall Regional Tournament, which is the culmination of the fall season.
 
Sunday's singles competition was played using a "Fast 4" format to speed up play in order to accommodate the large number of matches.
 
There were a number of outstanding performances turned in by the Wildcats. Senior Blake Gilbert Fuentes, playing his first collegiate match in two years, dispatched the top-ranked players from both Lewis & Clark (4-3, 0-4, 10-2) and Puget Sound (4-0, 4-1). 
 
In his first official collegiate tennis action, freshman Brooks Lerfald fought off any potential nerves on the way to a 4-1, 4-0 victory over Matthew Merzbach of Puget Sound. He then finished off  fellow freshman Kai Willis from Lewis & Clark, 4-2, 4-2.
 
Sophomore Matous Young was the other standout performer of the day, winning the first 13 games he played in. Young beat Bennett Gazor of Lewis & Clark 4-0, 4-0, before turning his sites to Rene Del Barco of Puget Sound, besting him 4-0, 4-3.
 
Other notable performances on the day, were from junior Abraham Solomon, who notched an impressive comeback win against Puget Sound's Rene Del Barco; 3-4, 4-2. 10-5. Meanwhile, in doubles action, the pairing of Young and freshman Alexander Rosenquist put on an impressive serving display to upend the Puget Sound team of Brayden Sawyer and Will Church by a final tally of 8-5.
 
"These matches were a great opportunity to get some good experience heading into the ITAs, especially for our freshmen," said Wildcats Interim assistant coach Alex Martin. "The lessons we learned from our play will certainly go into our preparation for next week's big ITA Tournament. The guys have worked incredibly hard. They have come together as a team already, in such a short time, and these types of tournaments will only bring them closer and make them stronger moving forward."
 
The season-opening event also marked the first collegiate action for new players Wyatt Zagyva  and Daisuke Fitial, providing an important step in their development.
 
NEXT
The 'Cats head back to work and continue their preparations for the ITA Fall Regional Tournament being held at Vancouver Tennis Club, Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.