TACOMA, Wash. – Linfield earned its first win of the 2026 campaign in shutout fashion Saturday, sweeping host Puget Sound 7-0 in both squads' Northwest Conference opener.
The Wildcats were sharp and resilient after testing their skills against Division I competition last weekend to begin the season, establishing themselves early on with a sweep to claim the doubles point and weathering competitive matches through singles.
The day was highlighted by the first career dual match wins for junior
Brandon Tran and freshman
Gavin Orozco, as well as the first wins as Wildcats for senior transfers
Zac Nakajima and
Joey Henderson.
DOUBLES
Nakajima and
Brooks Lerfald paired together again, picking up their first win as Linfield's new No. 1 doubles team with a 6-4 win over the Loggers' Jason Rowe and Jackson Stumpf, with an identical story for Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen at No. 2 against Tyler Blixt and Gavin Dille.
The Wildcats' completed the doubles sweep with a comfortable win for
Alexander Rosenquist and
Nick Owens, beating Aidan Kresko and Sam Lowery 6-3.
SINGLES
Head coach
Todd Mansfield opted to rest Lerfald for singles action, moving Nakajima to the top rung of the ladder.
Though he dropped a narrow first set, Nakajima responded to confidently take the next two, beating Rowe 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
It was a similar story at No. 2 where Henderson beat Stumpf in three sets, bouncing back for strong win in the second before winning a seventh game in the third to take the flight 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
The most resounding win of the day for Linfield came at No. 3 where Paulsen beat Dille 6-2, 6-3, while at No. 4 Rosenquist won another three-setter for the 'Cats, outlasting a rested Vincent Unpingco 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Orozco looked strong in the opening frame of flight No. 5 against Reef Gelder, and nearly took his first career win by straight sets, but ultimately managed to control the action in the third set to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
And after sitting on the sidelines for two seasons at Linfield, Tran made the most of his moment with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Blixt to complete the 7-0 sweep by the Wildcats.
NEXT
Linfield will play at doubleheader against mixed opponents at different venues tomorrow, visiting Willamette (0-1, 0-1) at 9 a.m. in Salem, Ore. before driving back up highway 99-west to host non-conference opponent California Lutheran (1-1, 0-0).
The 'Cats will have their first two-day home weekend next week when they host reigning NWC champion Whitman on Saturday followed by Whitworth on Sunday.
