WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Linfield took the court for the first time with its 2026-27 squad over the weekend as the Northwest Conference's men's tennis programs descended on Whitman College for the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Northwest Regional Championship tournament.
 
Both newcomers and veteran Wildcats showed promise for the spring season, highlighted by semifinal appearances in the singles"B" draw for sophomore Gavin Orozco and freshman Sam Henderson, and top doubles team Brooks Lerfald and Joey Henderson reaching the semis as well in the consolation doubles bracket.
 
"Overall, I would say it was an excellent weekend," said head coach Todd Mansfield. "Our results showed me that our top players have improved mentally and physically. Our bottom players had great performances in the 'B' draws and let the league know they are ready to contribute."
 
"While we didn't come away with the top prize, I did come away with a great feeling that this team is going to do something special that hasn't been done here in over 20 years," said Mansfield. "You better follow this team!"
 
SINGLES
Linfield got off to a strong start during Saturday's singles action with seven Wildcats winning their opening round match.
 
Orozco was entered into the "B" draw as the second-seeded player, one of just three entrants awarded a bye through the round of 32. The Bonney Lake, Washington product was tested in his first match but managed to work his way out of the round of 16, winning a 10-point tiebreak for the third set to down George Fox's Jorge Mayorga 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.
 
Sunday morning's quarterfinal ended in another gritty win for Orozco after a slow first set, coming from behind to advance with dominant performances in the second and third sets against Whitworth's Spencer Shade in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win.
 
Sam Henderson immediately impressed in his first collegiate competition, earning a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win against Pacific's Gaven Soriano in the round of 64 Saturday morning before advancing to the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-2 over Gian Marko Marrero of George Fox.
 
He continued his strong play Sunday morning beating Willamette's Isaac Anderson 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinal. Both Orozco and Henderson's runs ended mid-day Sunday in three-set losses both to Whitworth Pirates, as Landon LaBrie outlasted Orozco 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and eventual "B" draw champion Matthew Hossack beat Henderson 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
 
In the "A" draw seniors Lerfald, Cameron Paulsen and Joey Henderson all received first-round byes which they all parlayed into wins in the round of 32. Lerfald, the field's eighth-ranked player, beat Whitman's Aiden Cruz 6-0, 6-4, Paulsen beat Charles Boyden also of Whitman in a hard-fought 10-point third set 6-3, 2-6, 11-9, while Henderson also won by tiebreak against Whitworth's Ryan Ashley 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
 
Unfortunately, the trio all found themselves eliminated the next morning following the round of 16, as Lewis & Clark's Noah Sutin beat Lerfald 6-4, 6-3, the tournament's eventual runner-up Zach Moore of George Fox beat Paulsen 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, and another semifinalist in Lewis & Clark's Kaden Sigurdsson eliminated Henderson by a score of 6-0, 6-1.
 
 
Elsewhere in the "A" draw junior transfer Nevin McCann earned an opening-round win against Whitworth's Dalton Polesky 3-6, 6-3, 10-1 before Pacific's Joshua Dela Cruz narrowly beat McCann 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-4 in the round of 32.
 
Freshman Anthony Wang lost his opening match to Puget Sound's Gavin Dille, Dille winning 6-2, 6-4 but was able to reach the round of 16 in the consolation bracket when his first-round opponent withdrew due to injury before falling to Guy Morian by a score of 7-5, 6-1.
 
Senior Brandon Tran and junior transfer Jack Nagler rounded out Linfield's entrants in the "B" draw.
 
Nagler posted two strong wins to reach the quarterfinals, beating Puget Sound's Tyler Blixt 7-5, 6-2 in the first round before beating a rested Eric Topacio, a recipient of a first-round bye, 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to LaBrie 7-5, 6-2.
 
Tran took losses in the opening rounds of both the main stage as well as the consolation bracket but was re-entered in a four-player "B Draw Yellow" flight where he beat Puget Sound's Luca Finegan 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) and was eventually named champion when Blixt was forced to withdraw due to injury the following match.
 
DOUBLES
Linfield entered four squads into the doubles tournament in Lerfald and Henderson, Paulsen and McCann, Wang and Orozco and Tran and Sam Henderson.
 
Paulsen and McCann opened doubles with an 8-4 win in the round of 32 over a Pacific tandem of Dela Cruz and Alexander Kinoshita, before Whitworth's duo of Ashley and Matthew Froslan took a narrow win over Paulsen and McCann 8-7 (10-8) before eventually reaching the weekend's semifinal.
 
Tran and Henderson performed well in their first match together for an 8-4 win against George Fox's Jorge Mayorga and Jayden Lovingfoss but fell in Sunday's round of 16 as Isaac Anderson and Baptiste Berthier won 8-3.
 
Lerfald and Joey Henderson found themselves unexpectedly dispatched to the consolation bracket following an upset win via tiebreak for Whitworth's Hossack and Peter Farley, 8-7 (8-6).
 
But the senior Wildcat tandem made the most of their situation, making quick work of Lewis & Clark's Aslan Gemuhluoglu and Quinn Douangpanya 8-5 in the round of 16, before winning by an identical score in the consolation quarterfinals against Willamette's Tristan Munteanu and Sohnosuke Sakaguchi.
 
But Lerfald and Henderson were forced to stop their run in the semifinal against Whitman's Cooper Wyngarden and Pharrell Redmond. Henderson had been fighting illness since Sunday morning and by Monday was unable to continue to compete.
 
It was a similar end to the weekend for the duo of Orozco and Wang; after nearly pulling a major upset of their own over Sigurdsson and Sutin in the round of 32 in a 8-7 (7-1) finish, their consolation competition was over before it started as they were forced to retire as well in the round of 16 due to an injury due to a lower body injury sustained by Wang earlier on.
 
"While we did end up with one injury, our players showcased how much it helps to have a full-time strength and conditioning coach at Linfield," said Mansfield. "I saw the results of Director of Sports Performance and Fitness Katrina Johns' work late in our matches, late in the days and also by how many players from other teams struggled with the full load of matches."