MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Looking in top form in Rutschman Field House, the Linfield men's tennis team earned an 8-1 victory Sunday over the Puget Sound Loggers.
 
"This was a great match for us and an opportunity to turn a 4-5 match from last year into an 8-1 win this season," said head coach Alex Martin.
 
The Wildcats (4-8, 3-3) snapped a four-match losing streak with the win, taking their first victory since March 4.
 
Linfield took all three doubles flights against Puget Sound (4-6, 2-3) as well the top five singles lines.
 
DOUBLES
The Wildcats opened the match by sweeping doubles competition for the third time this season.
 
"The guys really focused on holding our serves today in doubles and that work really paid off," said Martin. "We were able to hold every service game at one and two doubles."
 
In the top doubles flight Wilhelm Saiga and Nick Gabelman handled Puget Sound's Rene Del Barco and Mike Smolkis 8-4.
 
In the No. 2 flight Rogue Stone and Seth Lee improved to a team-best record of 5-1 as a pair this year, dismissing Trent Beckman and Noah Henderson 8-2.
 
And in the No. 3 Matous Young and Alexander Rosenquist, playing together for just the second time, edged out Brayden Sawyer and Will Church 8-6 to set up the Wildcats with a 3-0 lead heading into singles.
 
SINGLES
In the No. 1 singles flight Saiga rolled to his fourth straight win as the 'Cats top player in the lineup with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Smolkis.
 
The junior transfer is now 7-1 in singles since joining up with the Wildcats.
 
In the No. 2 flight senior Blake Fuentes Gilbert saw singles action for the first time since Feb. 2 after missing time due to injury, but returned to solo play without missing a beat as he took a 6-0, 6-4 win against Henderson.
 
"Blake came out ready to go," said Martin. "He established his game early, dictated with his groundstrokes and controlled the match from start to finish."
 
Fuentes Gilbert's win clinched the match for Linfield with the score at 5-0.
 
Stone managed to snap a three-match losing streak in the No. 3 spot in the lineup, earning a 6-4, 6-2 win against Beckman.
 
"Rogue has continued to work on bringing his game back to where it was last season and is continually making progress," said Martin. "Today was another step in the right direction. He's using his serve well and keeping things simple off the ground too."
 
In the No. 4 flight freshman Brooks Lerfald picked up his sixth win of the season, second on the team only to Saiga, taking down Church 6-2, 6-4.
 
In the fifth flight Lee cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Conor Blakeny. Lee's victory secured all five singles wins for Linfield coming in straight sets.
 
"Seth is also really hitting his stride at the right time of the season," said Martin. "He's looking much better and looking to take the ball early. His continued improvement will be vital as we move towards the end of the season."
 
The Loggers avoided a shutout for the match in the No. 6 flight with Carson Ward defeating Rosenquist 6-4, 6-4 to set the final score at 8-1.
 
"This group is really coming together, getting healthy and playing great tennis at the exact right time of the year," said Martin. "We've got a lot to play for in these last two weeks of the regular season and I'm excited to see what they can do."
 
NEXT
The Wildcats play their final home match of the year on Saturday, April 8 at 11:00 hosting Pacific (7-4, 3-0).
 
Linfield then wraps up the regular season April 15 in Portland, visiting Lewis and Clark.
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