MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Linfield men's tennis team fell 6-3 at the hands of the Whitman Blues Sunday in Rutschman Fielhouse.
 
Seth Lee and Rogue Stone continued their strong play at No. 1 doubles for Linfield (3-5, 1-2) but Whitman (4-7, 3-0) proved to have the depth necessary to come out on top.
 
DOUBLES
Lee and Stone faced stiff competition in the top doubles flight, facing Whitman's Artem Manov and Charles Rush.
 
Manov and Rush are ranked as the No. 10 doubles team in the West Region of Division-III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but Lee and Stone controlled the action throughout to the tune of an 8-5 win for the Wildcats.
 
It was Lee and Stone's seventh consecutive win as a duo, improving their season record to 7-1.
 
But Linfield couldn't continue its success through the rest of the doubles slate, as Lucas Huang and Cameron Yang beat Cameron Paulsen and Haven Hepton 8-5 and Braeden Thomas and Noah Baker beat Matous Young and Alexander Rosenquist 8-2, giving the Blues a 2-1 lead going into singles.
 
SINGLES
Lee took an impressive victory at No. 1 singles over Yang, ranked as the No. 16 singles player in the west by the ITA. Lee won handily, 6-2, 6-4 to set the team match score even at two wins apiece.
 
The win also moved Lee above .500 on the season to 5-4, all of which have been played at the top spot in Linfield's lineup.
 
But Whitman regained the lead for good as Huang beat Stone 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.
 
The 'Cats nearly evened the match score again from a three-set match at No. 3 singles, but Rosenquist could not hold on to an early lead over Manov, with Manov eventually winning 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
 
Whitman clinched the win at 5-2 with a win for Luca Viarengo over Cody Pickar at no. 5 singles, Viarengo winning handily 6-1, 6-1. Meanwhile, Alejandro Raffo beat Matous Young 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
 
The match concluded with a win for the Wildcats as Paulsen picked up his fifth victory of his freshman season, responding after initially being blanked in the first set by Thomas.
 
Paulsen managed to force a third set, played as a 10-point tiebreaker that Paulsen narrowly took 10-7 to win 0-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7).
 
NEXT
Linfield will sit idle for nearly two weeks before playing two non-conference matches in California.
 
The 'Cats visit the Biola Eagles (6-4, 0-0) in La Mirada on March 25 before taking on the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (5-2, 0-0) in San Diego on March 28 in a men's and women's doubleheader. Both teams are members of the Division-II Pacific West Conference.
 
Linfield then returns to NWC action on March 31 at Puget Sound. Read Full Article