MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Despite a day of closely contested matches that featured three three-set affairs in singles the Linfield Wildcats fell 5-2 at home Sunday to the Pacific Boxers.
Linfield (2-6, 2-3) got strong singles performances from newcomers
Zac Nakajima and
Gavin Orozco, as well as a win at No. 1 doubles, but it was the Boxers (2-4, 2-2) who managed to close out key, evenly matched flights in the middle of the ladder.
"I'm a 'glass half full' guy so it was a good day and a bad day," said head coach
Todd Mansfield.
"It was bad because we lost, and I felt as though we should have won. It was good because last year we got blown out by these guys the first time we played them and this year, we were two points from winning the doubles point, lost two tiebreakers at No. 1 and No. 3 and lost two tight three setters at four and five. This match could easily have been 5-2 us.
DOUBLES
The Wildcats got their first win of the day as doubles wrapped up thanks to a first-time pairing at the top of the lineup, with
Brooks Lerfald and
Alexander Rosenquist partnering for a narrow 7-6 victory over Pacific's No. 1 team of Johnathan Nguyen and Dawson Hose.
It was the first time Lerfald and Rosenquist had played together in their careers, Rosenquist joining No. 1 doubles due to injury management for Lerfald's usual partner
Zac Nakajima, who still eventually suited up for singles.
"Big kudos to
Alexander Rosenquist for stepping up and partnering with Brooks at No. 1 and getting the win over one of the best pairs in the league," said Mansfield.
But the day's doubles point had already been earned by Pacific. Boxers Joshua Dela Cruz and Alexander Kinoshita teamed up for a 6-3 victory over
Joey Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen at No. 2 in the first contest to go final, before the Boxers clinched a 1-0 lead, though Linfield made them earn it, with a tight 7-6 win for Steele Toguchi and Lucas Fuhrmann over
Gavin Orozco and
Nick Owens.
SINGLES
The action would continue to be tightly contested through singles, featuring three three-set contests in the bottom half of the lineup.
But Pacific managed to take a 2-0 lead with a win at the top of the ladder by Dela Cruz over Lerfald. After a tightly contested first set Dela Cruz pulled away in the second to win 7-6, 6-1.
It was a similar story at No. 3, where the Boxers put themselves on the verge of clinching with a 7-6, 6-3 win by Nguyen against Henderson. Pacific managed to do just that 25 minutes later when the first three-set match of the day concluded with Fuhrmann beating Rosenquist 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5 to set the match score at 4-0.
From there, the final three matches to conclude were laborious for both sides. Pacific extended its lead to five at No. 5 as Hose beat Paulsen 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 before the Wildcats finally managed to get on the board in the last two matches of the day to conclude.
Orozco, the youngest Wildcat in the lineup, showed his grit with a narrow three-set win of his own, beating Toguchi 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to earn his second career win, before Nakajima managed to avoid a third set with a long straight sets win, 6-3, 7-6, against Kinoshita.
The victory improved Nakajima's singles record to a team best 4-3 in his first season as a Wildcat, including a 3-1 mark when playing as Linfield's No. 2.
"I was really proud of
Gavin Orozco picking up a tough three set win over Toguchi. That's big for him. It reminds him of what he is capable of," said Mansfield. "After Zac popped that hammy against Whitman. I wasn't sure when we would see him back at full strength. Then having to play Kinoshita, that match could have lasted four hours, but Zac was dialed in and healthy and picked up a strong straight set win."
MORE FROM COACH MANSFIELD
"Falling down a hill is easy, it's climbing back up that's hard. But these guys are determined to do it.
"We were 1-4 at this stage last year and not coming close in the losses. This year is a different story. We are close. It's just frustrating, but we are known as the program that improves the most each year and that will continue this season. After five matches, we are just one match out of the playoffs. I'll take it."
NEXT
The Wildcats won't leave Yamhill County for the next two weeks as they visit cross-county rival George Fox (3-3, 3-2) Saturday, March 7 in Newberg, Oregon, before starting a three-match homestand the next day in McMinnville against Lewis & Clark.
