FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Linfield dominated the top of the ladder Saturday but in the end fell at Pacific 5-2 in both team's penultimate match of the season.
Brooks Lerfald and
Rogue Stone both put together 2-0 performances, teaming up for a thrilling tiebreak win at No. 1 doubles before they both won in straight sets in singles.
Elsewhere on the scorecard Linfield took heartbreaking losses that eventually handed the win to the Boxers, winning two three-setters to clinch the dual match team score in their favor.
"I told the boys we were going to improve this season and that we were going to be a team that nobody wanted to play at the end of the year," said head coach
Todd Mansfield.
"Even though we wound up on the short side, we proved it today as were five points away from winning this match 4-3. The bounces didn't go our way in key deuce points, but the improvement by this team over the course of the spring has been fantastic. I'm very proud."
Pacific improved to 8-9 overall with the win and 8-5 in the Northwest Conference, further securing a hold on fourth place in the league standings and a conference tournament bid.
The Wildcats fell to 3-10 in conference play but have now secured multiple dual match points in five of their last seven NWC contests.
DOUBLES
The Boxers managed to efficiently clinch Saturday's doubles point with a pair of 6-2 wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles by Joshua Dela Cruz and Ryley Chang over
Abhi Acharya and
Alexander Rosenquist and Alexander Kinoshita and Aidan Rooney against
Cameron Paulsen.
Despite the early Pacific advantage Lerfald and Stone managed to control a tightly contested match with Jonathan Nguyen and Dawson Hose to win their fourth straight doubles flight as a team and improve to 7-4 on the season as Linfield's lead duo.
The Wildcat tandem had to fight for every point but eventually found their way to match point to win 7-6 via a narrow 10-8 tiebreak.
"Brooks and Rogue proved once again that they are the hottest team in the league right now, and maybe the best in the league right now, with an outstanding road win," said Mansfield. "For Rogue, it was really special because he had never beaten a Pacific team in doubles and to go out and get it in his last attempt says a lot about his fighting spirit."
SINGLES
The Wildcats' top players continued their strong play right into doubles, both picking up straight-set wins to put Linfield in front 2-1.
Lerfald earned his fourth win of the season at No. 1, confidently securing victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Dela Cruz. Stone meanwhile "bageled" Nguyen in the first set of the No. 2 flight before being tested in the second, but still holding on to win via tiebreak in just two sets 6-0, 7-6 (7-2).
But those were the only points for the 'Cats for the rest of the day as Pacific regained the lead with a pair of three-set wins at No. 3 and 4.
Paulsen started off strong at No. 3 but was unable to stave off a comeback effort from Kinoshita, the Boxer eventually winning 3-6, 6-1, 3-6. At No. 4, Rosenquist gave an admirable effort in a back-and-forth affair that included two seven-game sets with Rooney, but came out on the wrong end with Rooney winning 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Pacific cleaned up two more points at the bottom of the ladder with Hose beating Acharya 6-3, 6-3 and Chang handling
Cody Pickar 6-0, 6-1.
NEXT
The Wildcats will wrap up the season tomorrow, Sunday April 13 at home against the Willamette Bearcats (0-13, 0-13) at 11 a.m. Linfield earned its lone sweep of the season at Willamette on March 9.
The match will also serve as Senior Day. Linfield's senior trio of Pickar, Stone and Young will be honored with a brief ceremony shortly before the start of the match.
