SPOKANE, Wash. – The Linfield men's tennis team lost a narrow road battle in Scotford Tennis Center on Saturday, falling 5-4 to the host Whitworth Pirates.
 
The Wildcats (2-6, 1-2) turned in an impressive comeback effort after falling behind 0-3 in doubles action by going 4-2 in singles, forcing the Pirates (4-7, 1-1) to take the match down to the final two flights.
 
"As a coach, it's my responsibility to pick the right lineup to put the guys in a position to be successful and today I made the wrong picks," said head coach Alex Martin.
 
"Regardless of that, these guys fought incredibly hard to try and pick me up. This is a group that played for each other and worked incredibly hard to overcome a difficult start."
 
DOUBLES
In the No. 1 doubles flight Wilhelm Saiga and Nick Gabelman fought in a closely contested match but fell 8-6 to Whitworth's Payton Romey and Henry Preacher.
 
Brooks Lerfald and Seth Lee, paired for just the second time this year, lost 8-4 in the No. 2 contest to Nathan Tjelle and Ethan Warring.
 
Whitworth barely secured their doubles sweep in the No. 3, with Rogue Stone and Alexander Rosenquist getting edged out 8-7 by Jess Weaver and Lance Dunn following a 9-7 tiebreaker.
 
It was Stone and Rosenquist's first loss in three matches being paired together.
 
"The sweep in doubles is entirely on me," said Martin. "The guys had good energy and competed hard, but I just picked the wrong partnerships today."
 
SINGLES
With the 'Cats down 3-0, Saiga showed that they would not being going down easily with a 6-4, 6-1 win in the No. 1 flight over Nathan Tjelle.
 
Whitworth managed to take the No. 2 with Warring beating Stone 6-4, 6-1 to move within one win of clinching the match, but Lerfald responded in the No. 3 flight with a hard-fought, 7-5, 7-6 win that saw him take the second set tiebreaker 7-0 over Romey to keep the match alive for the Wildcats.
 
"Willy set the tone at the top with a clinical and controlled match where his talent was on full display," said Martin. "Brooks played with heart and courage to show himself as the incredible player he is."
 
In the No. 4 flight Lee found resistance early in a bout with Weaver, but in the end brought Linfield within one win of tying the match score with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win.
 
"Seth worked through some early struggles and found his game when it mattered most," said Martin. "It may not always be pretty but if you fight for every point, good things happen."
 
Coming down to the fifth and sixth flights with Whitworth leading now just 4-3, the Pirates managed to clinch the home-court victory at 5-3 with Colby Cinqars beating Gabelman in a closely contested 6-4, 7-5 win in the No. 6 flight.
 
The match concluded with an exciting battle in the No. 5 flight, with Rosenquist beating Preacher in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
 
"Alexander's match was up and down but when he decides to play the point on his terms, he's so difficult to beat," said Martin.
 
"This is a difficult place to play, and we found out the hard way today, but we will regroup tonight and be ready to go tomorrow. I'm so proud of these guys and the way they competed and believed in each other.
 
"This team is so fun and such a great group of guys."
 
NEXT
Linfield now heads down to Walla Walla for an 8:00 AM meeting with the Whitman Blues (3-6, 1-1).
 
The 'Cats will take next weekend off from competition before hosting Colorado College in a non-conference match on Sunday, March 26 in the first of four straight matches at home.
 
They then return to the NWC schedule on  April 1, hosting Pacific Lutheran.
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