Box Score
FOREST GROVE – In a battle of Northwest Conference men's tennis unbeatens, No. 8-ranked Whitman took sole possession of first place with a 7-2 victory over Pacific at Holce Tennis Courts Saturday.
The victory ran the Missionaries' NWC winning streak to 83 consecutive matches, while Pacific dropped to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in conference.
The Boxers recorded wins in No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles, with two freshmen and a sophomore leading the way.
Troy Zuroske (So., Richland, Wash.) and
Giancarlo Battaglia (Fr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) defeated the Whitman pairing of Andrew La Cava and Jeff Tolman 8-5. Zuroske and Battaglia improved their doubles record to 5-1 with the victory, while Whitman lost its second straight No. 1 doubles match.
In singles play, No. 4
Brandon Schlack (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.) stormed past Whitman's James Rivers 6-2, 6-0, improving to 5-1 on the season.
The Missionaries (4-0, 8-3) won the other five singles matches in straight sets.
Spencer Hing's (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) four-match winning streak came to an end, but not without a fight, as he dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Tolman in No. 2 singles. La Cava made short work of Zuroske in No. 1 singles, winning 6-2, 6-0. Battaglia fell 6-3, 6-3 to Conor Holton-Burke in the No. 3 match. In No. 5 singles, Sam Sedeghi defeated
Eric Furuya (Sr., Portland, Ore.) 6-3, 6-1 and Adriel Borshansky wore down
Scott Kawamura (Aiea, Hawaii) 7-5, 6-0 in the No. 6 singles match.
After losing to George Fox in No. 1 doubles, Holton-Burke and Matt Tesmond competed in No. 2 doubles at Pacific, defeating Hing and Kawamura 8-5. In the No. 3 doubles match, Schlack and
Kolin Wong (Captain Cook, Hawaii) dropped a 8-2 decision to Sedeghi and Rivers 8-2.
Pacific and Whitman played three matches in 2011, including a first round playoff meeting at Walla Walla. The Boxers scored only one point in those three matchups, when Zuroske defeated Tolman 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in No. 3 singles in a home match on Feb. 20, 2011.
“We are disappointed with the score,” said Pacific head coach
Brian Jackson, “but we had some good battles. We are very much hoping we get to see them again.”
The Boxers play their third consecutive home match Sunday, taking on Pacific Lutheran at 10:00 a.m. A schedule change has moved Pacific's following match up from Friday to Thursday, as the Boxers travel to McMinnville to take on Linfield at 4:30 p.m. on March 15.
