MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield men's tennis continued a recent run of narrow losses against conference opponents Saturday with a 4-3 defeat against George Fox on the Wildcats' Senior Day.
The morning was led off by Linfield's Senior Day ceremony honoring
Brooks Lerfald,
Zac Nakajima,
Alexander Rosenquist and
Joey Henderson before the match.
"This is a special group of seniors, there are two that have been here for four years and two that have been here for one and yet all four feel as though they have known each other their whole lives," said head coach
Todd Mansfield. "I will always choose a player with character and chemistry over talent, you can build a better player, but you can't build a better person. Linfield and its success will be built on great people like these seniors, and I will miss them terribly, but they have laid the foundation of the type of players and program I want to build here."
The match evened the season series between the two Yamhill County rivals after the 'Cats (5-15, 5-8) beat the Bruins (8-9, 7-6) for the first time since 2011 earlier this season. The result also eliminated Linfield from Northwest Conference postseason contention while the Bruins stayed alive in their race for the league tournament's fourth and final seed.
"Growing pains stink," said Mansfield. "Last year we struggled but edged out the bottom teams, this year we hammered them but lost 4-3 to three playoff teams. I know we had the talent to win but we just missed out on putting it all together which makes the last three matches all the more painful. But we have one more opportunity to make this weekend special and I believe we will do it!"
DOUBLES
The match was even from the opening serve of doubles as all three flights went back and forth.
Linfield looked poised to clinch the doubles point after a strong 6-4 win by Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen to dispatch Keita Shoji and Ikuho Ebisu for the Wildcat duo's seventh win of the season.
But the Bruins responded by taking two extended sets to clinch the doubles point, as Joseph Vece and Luis Hernandez beat Rosenquist and
Nick Owens 7-5 at No. 3, before George Fox clinched the doubles point at No. 1 with a tiebreak 7-6 (6-2) win by Zach Moore and Aidan Cruz over Lerfald and Nakajima, the No. 8 ranked tandem in Division III's West region entering the week.
SINGLES
The Wildcats evened the score to open singles with a win by Paulsen at No. 3, taking down Hernandez 6-2, 6-4, winning his third straight match to improve to a team high 10 wins this season, all against league opponents.
But from there George Fox took a 3-1 lead with wins in the top two flights, with Moore, the ITA's No. 11 singles player in the West, beating Nakajima 6-3, 6-2 before Koji outlasted Lerfald in an impressive comeback effort to take the No. 2 matchup 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The Bruins managed to clinch at No. 5 where Ebisu beat Rosenquist 6-3, 6-4, before Vece edged out
Gavin Orozco in a tight straight sets match 7-6 (6-1), 6-4.
The match did end on a positive note for the 'Cats as Henderson ended his Senior Day 2-0 with a three-set win against Cruz at No. 4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, for his seventh win of the season.
NEXT
Linfield wraps up its season tomorrow in Portland, Ore. visiting the Lewis & Clark River Otters (8-10, 8-5). The match is slated to begin at 11 a.m. inside the L&C Tennis Dome.
