PORTLAND, Ore. – The Linfield men's tennis team fell 7-2 in the final match of the year Saturday, losing to the Lewis and Clark Pioneers.
 
The Wildcats (4-10, 3-5) end the season with the most wins in a season for the program since 2019.
 
Linfield was in contention for a spot in the NWC Tournament heading into the final weekend but needed a win by at least 6-3 over the Pioneers (7-9, 5-2) to make the cut.
 
"All credit goes to Lewis and Clark today," said head coach Alex Martin. "Jimmy [Chau] had them ready to play and they absolutely blasted us in doubles. We had good energy and played hard; they just flat out beat us today."
 
"Obviously, this wasn't the result we wanted but this team is so special and means so much to me. They did it the right way at every turn and the work these guys put in has bought this program back some respectability, and with the group coming in next year we will only continue to move forward."
 
DOUBLES
Lewis and Clark set an early tone in doubles play, taking all three contests.
 
In the No. 1 flight Linfield's Wilhelm Saiga and Nick Gabelman lost to Lewis and Clark's Kristian Peev and Wade McDermott 8-4.
 
In the No. 2 Seth Lee and Rogue Stone were beaten by Matt Chio and Kai Willis 8-5. It was just the third loss of the season for the Wildcats' No. 2 team of Lee and Stone.
 
And in the third doubles contest Landon Cronin and Alberto Dos Santos downed Brooks Lerfald and Blake Fuentes Gilbert 8-1 to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead heading into singles.
 
SINGLES
Linfield's first win of the day came in the top singles flight, where Saiga shook off the loss in doubles to cruise to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Peev.
 
"I was so proud of how the boys came out and fought in singles," said Martin. "Every court was a battle and the guys left it all out there for each other."
 
"Willy was a stud at No. 1 today. He played his cleanest match of the season against a really good player."
 
Saiga's win improved his record on the season to a team-best 8-2.
 
In the No. 2, Fuentes Gilbert, playing in the final match of his career, fell to Chio 6-3, 6-0.
 
"Blake's career comes to an end today, and not necessarily in the way he wanted, but he fought to the end," said Martin. "He's a special kid who has battled so much adversity to be a part of this team, and I'm so happy to have had the chance to coach him."
 
In the third singles contest Stone fought through two tight sets, but eventually fell to Dos Santos 6-4, 7-5, while Lerfald also fought for two close sets in the No. 4 but was dispatched by McDermott 7-6, 7-5.
 
The No. 5 flight featured Lee facing off with Miles Stone, Stone winning 6-1, 7-5.
 
Linfield picked up a win in the No. 6 contest, as Alexander Rosenquist picked up the sixth win of his freshman campaign in a three-set battle with Kai Willis.
 
Rosenquist won 7-6, 3-6, 11-9. He was forced to rally back after dropping the first four games, but eventually took the first after winning a seven-point tiebreaker before eventually taking the match with a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set.
 
"Alexander was able to find his rhythm and work his way back into the match," said Martin. "He just kept working to find his game. He played a rock solid tiebreaker at the end of the first set and it was great to see how comfortable and company was in precious situations especially in that third set."
 
"Now these guys will get to focus on working in the classroom as hard as they've worked on the court and we'll hopefully attain our next goal of becoming Academic All-Americans as a team."
 
"I'm so thankful for all the support from the parents, the alumni, the community, the administration and from the whole Linfield family. It's only going forward from here. Go 'Cats!" Read Full Article