REDLANDS, Calif. – Linfield concluded its swing through southern California Wednesday with a matchup with the Redlands Bulldogs, the No. 25 ranked team in NCAA DIII by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The Bulldogs (5-7, 0-1) won 7-0 despite competitive efforts from the Wildcats (5-10, 5-4) throughout, including forcing third sets in two singles flights.
DOUBLES
Redlands took the first win of the day with a 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles.
Linfield battled through the top two doubles contests but could not keep the Bulldogs from taking the doubles point.
"I knew doubles would be tough after seeing what Redlands did to Whitworth yesterday, but our boys fought hard," said head coach
Todd Mansfield. "No. 1 and No. 2 got broken on deuce points, and that was the difference. You have to tip your hat."
The Bulldogs clinched with a win at No. 1 doubles where MJ Arbaca and Vitomir Petcov beat top Wildcat duo
Brooks Lerfald and
Zac Nakajima 6-3.
It was Nakajima's first matchup against his former team after spending the first three years of his career at Redlands, including two as team captain, before transferring to Linfield this season.
Redlands swept doubles with a 6-4 win at No. 2 for Cooper Whittington and Sam Parsons despite a competitive effort by
Joey Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen.
SINGLES
Linfield made the Bulldogs work for their sweep with gritty matchups throughout the singles card, even with them all going Redlands' way in the end.
"Wow, what a difference a year makes," said Mansfield. "Last year we got wiped on every court. This year we won sets on three and five and lost 7-5, 7-5 on court one. In the other matches, we made them earn it."
Redlands picked up its first singles win of the day with a 6-2, 6-1 victory for Whittington against Paulsen in the No. 4 flight, before the Bulldogs extended their lead to 3-0 with a win by Evan Lambert at No. 6 over
Gavin Orozco by the same score.
The Bulldogs clinched the match at 4-0 when Abarca was able to pull away late from Lerfald in the No. 2 flight for a 6-3, 6-1 win.
The Wildcats forced two three-set matches at No. 3 and No. 5 singles. At No. 3 Paulsen took the first set in a seventh game against William Pullin, before a rested Pullin pulled away late and won the ten-point tiebreak third set to take the flight 6-7, 6-1, 10-6.
At No. 5 it was the same situation of a rested Bulldog playing a Wildcat that had competed in doubles play earlier with
Alexander Rosenquist taking on Luke Bishop. This time it was Rosenquist on the comeback in the second frame before Bishop took the third, played out to regulation, Bishop winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
"I was really happy with the way Alexander fought back to force a third set, and how Cam Paulsen nabbed his first 7-6," said Mansfield.
The match concluded with a lengthy straight-sets flight at the top of the ladder, where Petcov outlasted his former teammate Nakajima 7-5, 7-5.
"This was a big day for Zac," said Mansfield. "There were lots of emotion and fans there too. So many people that knew him from his days at Redlands showed up. They even rooted for him in the match. After it was over, to see all thirteen of the Redlands players come up and give Zac a hug was a very special moment. A win would have made it a fairy tale, but even in losing 7-5, 7-5, he showed everyone what a great player he is. We are lucky to have him."
NEXT
The Wildcats resume Northwest Conference play Saturday but will not play at home until April 4.
Linfield travels to eastern Washington this weekend to take on defending NWC champion and current league standings leader Whitman (9-5, 8-0) in Walla Walla on Saturday before travelling north to take on Whitworth in Spokane the next day.
The 'Cats visit Pacific on the morning of April 4 before returning home later that day to host UC-Santa Cruz in their final non-conference match of the regular season.
