MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield saw valiant three-set efforts from
Brooks Lerfald and
Cameron Paulsen but eventually the Wildcats found themselves on the wrong end of a 7-0 sweep Saturday at Rutschman Fieldhouse.
The 'Cats dropped their third straight match to start the season, victims to a red-hot Pioneers squad that moved to 7-1 on their year with six straight wins.
DOUBLES
The Wildcats posted competitive performances in doubles play but Lewis & Clark still managed to secure the match score point via sweep.
At No. 1 doubles the Pioneers' Kai Wills and Wade McDermott beat Linfield's top team of
Rogue Stone and
Brooks Lerfald 6-4, while Noah Sutin and Joey Lyon also won 6-4 over
Abhi Acharya and
Cameron Paulsen at No. 2.
Doubles play wrapped up with Spencer Loucks and Matt Chio securing the doubles sweep 6-3 over
Matous Young and
Alexander Rosenquist.
SINGLES
Lerfald managed to force a third set in the top singles match after dropping the opening frame, but it was Sutin holding on for the win 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Cameron Paulsen also battled through a three-set match with Chio at No. 3, with each of the final two sets being determined by tiebreaker, Chio taking the contest 4-6, 7-6 (4-0), 7-6 (5-0).
The Pios took the rest of the day's flights by straight sets, including Lyon beating Rosenquist 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and McDermott outlasting stone 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4.
They completed the sweep with a 6-3, 6-4 win for Wills against Acharya at No. 5 and a rested Arnav Bishnoi beating Young 6-1, 6-4.
NEXT
The Wildcats will be on the hunt for their first win of the season on Sunday when they host the Puget Sound Loggers (1-3, 1-2) in Rutschman Fieldhouse at 11:00.
Linfield then heads to eastern Washington the first weekend of March to visit Whitworth and Whitman, the first two matches of nine of 10 on the road for the 'Cats through March.
