Box Score
TACOMA – The Pacific men's tennis team had a chance to slay a demon in the opening match of the season and they did so with ruthless precision. A loss to Puget Sound kept the Boxers out of third place in the Northwest Conference in 2011, shortening their season by forcing them to face Whitman in the opening round of the playoffs. They came into 2012 with no intention of having that happen again.
The Boxers blanked the Loggers 9-0 by winning every individual match in straight sets to open the season with an impressive conference win.
A healthy
Spencer Hing (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) showed that he is ready to make a run at No. 1 singles. Beginning the season in the No. 2 slot, Hing defeated Scott Finkleman 6-0, 6-0, avenging a loss from 2011, when he battled a wrist injury. Newcomer
Brandon Schlack (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.) also swept every game in his first college match, defeating Abe Noyes 6-0, 6-0.
While the Boxers singles players made short work of the Loggers, the doubles matches were a different story. In their first pairing of the season, No. 1 doubles team
Troy Zuroske (So., Richland, Wash.) and
Giancarlo Battaglia (Fr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) dispatched Michael Cutter and Scott Finkleman, 8-2. But Pacific's other doubles teams had tougher battles on their hands.
Kolin Wong (Jr., Captain Cook, Hawaii) and
Hector Alcayde (Sr. Wahiawa, Hawaii) went to a tiebreaker, but got past Noyes and John Stevens, 9-8 (7-4) in No. 3 doubles. The No. 2 team of Hing and
Scott Kawamura (Jr., Aiea, Hawaii) knocked off Ben Miller and George Murphy, 9-7.
“The energy from the double sweep carried over into singles,” said Boxers head coach
Brian Jackson. “We had one of our most dominant performances in my coaching career.”
After a First Team All-NWC nod as a freshman, Zuroske begins 2012 in the No. 1 singles position. Zuroske, who began 2011 with an eight-match winning streak, defeated Cutter 6-3, 6-1. The Boxers' other newcomer,
Giancarlo Battaglia, debuted at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ben Miller. The Boxers dominated right down the line, with veterans
Eric Furuya (Sr., Portland, Ore.) and Kawamura cruising in the No. 5 and 6 singles slots. Furuya defeated Murphy 6-2, 6-2, while Kawamura got past Stevens 6-2, 6-1.
“All in all, it was a great day,” said Jackson. “After some early nerves in doubles, we showed some maturity and focus in singles.”
The Boxers will take a major step up on competition on Sunday, as they face Division I Seattle University. The match will be at the Amy Yee Tennis Center at 1:15 p.m.
