SALEM, Ore. – The Linfield men's tennis team opened Northwest Conference with their first shutout of the season on Saturday, sweeping the Willamette Bearcats 9-0.
It was the 11
th straight win for the Wildcats (2-4, 1-0) against the Bearcats (0-6, 0-2) going back to 2017.
DOUBLES
"Really good energy in doubles," said head coach
Alex Martin. "We've been focusing on the energy and playing high percentage shots, and the guys did a great job today of moving and keeping the ball in play."
Wilhelm Saiga and
Nick Gabelman opened doubles with an 8-4 win in the No. 1 doubles, paired together for the first time this season, taking down Willamette's Andrew Kabacy and Velibor Mladenovic.
Seth Lee and
Brooks Lerfald, also paired together for the first time this season, found another 8-4 win for the 'Cats in the No. 2 flight against Quentin Nigbur and Andrew Kropp.
In the No. 3 flight
Rogue Stone and Alexander Rosenqusit improved to 2-0 as a duo, handling Andre Lief and Luca Casano 8-2.
SINGLES
Although Linfield eventually completed the sweep, the Wildcats had to fight to find victories in the top two singles matches.
Saiga won in straight sets but was forced to battle through a dramatic match with Kabacy in the top singles flight, winning 7-6, 7-5. Saiga found himself down 0-5 in the second set but rallied back to win and avoid a third.
Saiga is now 3-0 as Linfield's No. 1 in the singles lineup since joining up with the Wildcats.
Stone also faced adversity early in the No. 2 flight against Mladenovic, but fought back to take his first singles win of the season in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
"
Rogue Stone played a great match in singles," said Martin. "He focused on the process and controlling what he could control and kept fighting back until he had the match in his grasp."
The Wildcats faced a somewhat easier road through the rest of the lineup.
Lee downed Nigbur 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 flight while Rosenquist cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Kropp in the No. 4, both Wildcats picking up their second wins of the season.
Gabelman also earned his second singles win of the season on Saturday, beating Trey Allen 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5 flight, as did
Matous Young, who beat Lief 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 6 to secure the sweep for the 'Cats.
"Matous was really solid and used his serve to control points," said Martin. "He's put a lot of extra work in and it's obviously paying off."
"Overall, really happy with the performance and team unity today."
NEXT
The Wildcats face a tough test at home tomorrow against cross-county rival George Fox Bruins (3-3, 1-0). The Bruins are the defending champions of the NWC and are No. 24 nationally and No. 5 in the West Region in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's preseason rankings.
Next weekend Linfield heads to eastern Washington to take on Whitworth and Whitman on March 11 and 12.
The 'Cats then play their next match at home against Colorado College on March 26 in a break from NWC action.
