FOREST GROVE and MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield men's tennis completed a long day of competitive tennis Saturday, visiting Northwest Conference rival Pacific in Forest Grove before returning to McMinnville for a non-conference singles series with UC Santa Cruz.
Both matches ended in Wildcat losses, with Linfield (5-7, 5-14) taking an excruciating 4-3 loss to the Boxers (6-10, 6-5) before driving back to McMinnville to host the Banana Slugs (8-8) in a 4-0 loss.
The loss at Pacific hurt Linfield's chances of earning their first NWC Championship tournament bid since 2009 but the 'Cats remain alive needing to win out their final two matches of the regular season next weekend and hope for a pair of Boxers losses.
"Last year, we were never in the hunt," said head coach
Todd Mansfield. "This year, because of recruiting and a strong dedication by the players, we are still in the hunt, but that is why today's loss hurts even more. The good news is we are still in the hunt for the final playoff spot going into the final weekend. It's been a while since we have been able to say that."
DOUBLES VS. PACIFIC
The action between the Wildcats and the Boxers was competitive throughout the entirety of the match, first showcased in doubles.
Pacific took the first win of the day at No. 3 doubles as Alexander Kinoshita and Steele Toguchi beat
Alexander Rosenquist and
Nick Owens 6-3. Linfield then evened the doubles score as
Brooks Lerfald and
Zac Nakajima picked up an impressive 11
th win on the season at No. 1 with a 6-4 victory over Jonathan Nguyen and Dawson Hose.
But the Boxers managed to take the doubles point minutes later with a 6-4 win of their own, Ryley Chang and Joshua DeLaCruz escaping against
Joey Henderson and
Cameron Paulsen.
SINGLES
Despite taking the loss in doubles Paulsen quickly bounced back to even the score 1-1 with a swift 6-4, 6-1 win against Kinoshita at No. 3 singles, his team-leading ninth win of the season.
But Pacific regained the lead 2-1 at No. 2, where Nguyen got the win over Lerfald 6-3, 6-4 before the 'Cats got a strong response from the bottom of the lineup.
Linfield got its first lead of the day thanks to
Gavin Orozco at No. 6 and Rosenquist at No. 5. Orozco pulled away from Lucas Furhmann in the second set to win 6-4, 6-1 while Rosenquist managed to hold on for a straight sets victory against Chang 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 to make the match score 3-2, Linfield.
But the 'Cats would not add another point as the Pacific took a pair of three-set wins to clinch the match.
At No. 4 Hose outlasted Henderson 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to tie the match at 3-3, before DeLaCruz pulled away late from Nakajima in the match's top contest, clinching the win for Pacific 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"The boys did everything right," said Mansfield. "We were up 3-2 and their bodies started to fail them. Cramping has been a killer for us in three 4-3 losses this conference season."
SINGLES VS. UC SANTA CRUZ
Linfield did not have much time to absorb the loss with their afternoon match scheduled back in McMinnville, on a time crunch due to travel restrictions with the Banana Slugs heading back to California Sunday night.
The Wildcats also refrained from entering Nakajima and Henderson into the lineup after their marathon matches ending an hour prior in Forest Grove.
"It was very hard for our players to get up for this one coming off a heartbreaker again, just an hour before," said Mansfield. "Emotionally we weren't there for the first set of any match, but then we started to put some runs together, so I was happy."
We had to pull two of our top players due to injuries(cramping) from earlier int he day, so we couldn't put our best foot forward and Santa Cruz was able to take advantage of it.,
UC Santa Cruz struck first with a 6-2, 6-0 win for Rocco Melendez against Rosenquist, followed Peter Liang taking a 6-0, 6-0 win over
Brandon Tran at No. 6.
The score moved to 3-0 with a win at No. 1 by Benjamin Wang 6-1, 6-2 over Lerfald, before the match was clinched by Hari Raghavan 6-3, 6-1 against Orzoco.
With time constraints the remaining two matches went unfinished despite both Wildcats making comeback efforts, Paulsen trailing 6-2, 6-5 in the No. 2 contest and Owens down 6-3, 6-5 at No. 4.
"The best part of this match was opening up a door between our two schools," said Mansfield. "They are in a different league, but we would like to start playing them on a more regular basis. It will continue to help our program. Coach Ross Pytko is doing a great job with the Banana Slugs and I want to support that."
NEXT
Linfield wraps up the regular season next weekend in two pivotal matches.
The 'Cats host cross-county rival George Fox on Linfield' Senior Day on April 11, looking for the program's first seasons sweep of the Bruins since 2010, before visiting Lewis & Clark the following day in Portland.
Linfield will need to win both matches and see Pacific lose their final two matches to clinch a spot in the conference tournament.
