TACOMA, Wash. – The Linfield men's tennis team narrowly beat Puget Sound 5-4 on Easter Sunday, executing a torrid comeback through singles play after initially falling behind 4-1.
 
The win snapped a five-match losing streak for the Wildcats (4-7, 3-3) in their first Northwest Conference match since March 10. It was also the fourth consecutive victory for Linfield over the Loggers (2-9, 1-4).
 
DOUBLES
Linfield got on the scoreboard first to lead off doubles play at No. 2 doubles, where freshman duo Haven Hepton and Cameron Paulsen topped Puget Sound's Noah Henderson and Matthew Zou 8-3.
 
But the Loggers responded to take the lead with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, both flights ending in narrow seven-point tiebreaker games.
 
In the top flight, Jason Rowe and Will Church narrowly beat Seth Lee and Rogue Stone 8-7 (7-5) to tie the match score, before Tyler Blixt and Levi Buck put Puget Sound in front with an identical 8-7 (7-5) win over Matous Young and Alexander Rosenquist.
 
SINGLES
Leading 2-1, the Loggers quickly put themselves in a position to clinch with wins at No. 1 and No. 5 singles.
 
In the No. 1 singles flight Rowe dismissed Lee 6-0, 6-2 while Blixt beat Cody Pickar 6-2, 6-2, setting the Logger lead at 4-1.
 
But Linfield rallied back to win the next four flights, including three in three sets.
 
The 'Cats were initially kept alive by sophomore transfer Abhi Acharaya, picking up his second win as a Wildcat, 7-6, 6-3 over Zou.
 
Still needing to win three consecutive matches, Stone, Rosenquist and Paulsen rose to the occasion to lift Linfield to victory, all three taking their wins in three sets in contests that all lasted longer than two hours.
 
At No. 2 singles, Stone outlasted Henderson after dropping the opening set to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. A similar story played out at No. 4 singles, where Paulsen lost in the first set before responding to beat Church 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to bring the match score even at 4-4.
 
Coming down to the No. 4 flight, Roesenquist and Puget Sound's Tyler Ward battled through nearly two-and-a-half hours of tennis, with Ward desperately trying to clinch for the Loggers after Rowe had set them up for victory over an hour prior.
 
Rosenquist nabbed the first set before Ward responded to take the second. But ultimately it was Rosenquist easily outlasting Ward in the third to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and complete the Wildcat comeback to win 5-4.
 
NEXT
The 'Cats will try to move above .500 in NWC play for the first time since March 2 this Saturday, April 6 in Forest Grove at Pacific (4-8, 2-1) at 11:00 as both teams attempt to position themselves for a conference tournament appearance.
 
Linfield then wraps up the regular season on April 13 hosting Lewis & Clark. That match will also mark Senior Day, which will honor Young as the Wildcats' lone senior in the class of 2024.
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