PASADENA, Calif. –
Alexander Rosenquist and
Nick Owens earned a tiebreak win at No. 3 doubles but the Wildcats were unable to pick up a team point elsewhere in the lineup Sunday in a 7-0 loss at Caltech.
It was the second of three matches in southern California for Linfield (5-8, 5-4) this week, all against nationally ranked opponents. The Beavers (6-2, 1-0), members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association, entered the match ranked No. 31 in NCAA Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The Wildcats were forced to battle not only a top-end opponent but also the elements, playing in warm weather for the first time this season with the Pasadena temperature rising to 80 degrees during the match.
"The toughest part about any trip to California over spring break is sometimes we are seeing the sun for the first time in months and this time it got the better of us," said head coach
Todd Mansfield. "Caltech came out on fire and never relented. Our boys may have been a little gassed after playing late last night, but we make no excuses. Caltech outplayed us and deserved the win."
DOUBLES
All three doubles flights proved to be competitive to start the day's action.
The Beavers drew first blood with a win at the top of the lineup by Andrew Zabelo and Eric He over
Brooks Lerfald and Zach Nakajima, 6-3.
At No. 2 doubles
Joey Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen had their hands full with an impressive opposing tandem, taking on Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne and Tejas Ram, the No. 9 ranked team by the ITA within DIII's "West" region.
The Wildcats battled tough but it was the Beaver duo eventually winning also by a score of 6-3 to clinch the doubles point.
Linfield got its lone win of the day in comeback fashion as Rosenquist and Owens refused to be denied against Michael Gao and Eric Jin. After trailing early Rosenquist and Owens managed to battle all the way back to eventually win confidently via tiebreak for their third win this season as a duo.
"Nick and Alexander played a terrific match to come from behind and win in a tiebreaker," said Mansfield. "I thought the 'W' would propel us going into the singles matches."
SINGLES
The Beavers came out strong to start singles play and quickly moved towards clinching victory at 4-0. Caltech picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles, followed by a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 4 before clinching in the top flight with a win by Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne, the No. 28 ranked player in DIII and tied for No. 5 in the West, 6-1, 6-1, over Nakajima.
After the match had been clinched Rosenquist gave a strong effort in his second set with Gao but still eventually fell 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4, shortly followed by Lerfald dropping the No. 2 match to Zabelo 6-0, 6-2.
Monday's action concluded with the day's most competitive singles flight in a freshman v. freshman matchup between Soren Gorhei and
Gavin Orozco.
Orozco put together a strong first set before it was Gorhei pulling away late to win 6-4, 6-2.
"Gavin continues to showcase his development and played a great match," said Mansfield. "He showed me that all we have been working on is paying off even though he did not get the win."
NEXT
Linfield wraps up its California trip Wednesday at No. 27 Redlands (4-7, 0-1) at 4:00 p.m. PDT.
The Wildcats resume Northwest Conference play Saturday at first-place Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. before facing Whitworth in Spokane the following day.
