FOREST GROVE – On senior day at the Holce Tennis Courts, Pacific won its fifth consecutive match to close the regular season and saw all five of its seniors get in on the winning action.
The Boxers defeated Linfield 8-1 to close out an 11-1 Northwest Conference campaign. They will take the No. 2 seed into the four-team conference tournament at Whitman College next weekend after polishing off a 13-5 regular season campaign. Linfield closed out the season with a 2-10 NWC record, finishing 2-17 overall.
“I can't express how proud I am of the seniors,” said head coach
Brian Jackson. “They have helped us come a long way in four years and deserve to go out with such a great season.”
Boxer seniors
Evan Liu (Sr., Portland, Ore.) and
Hector Alcayde (Sr., Wahiawa, Hawaii) were on the courts at the same time for the first time this season and both contributed points to the cause. Alcayde was a two-time winner, taking the No. 6 singles match 6-2, 6-1 over Bryce Borland after partnering with
Scott Kawamura (Jr., Aiea, Hawaii) in an 8-4, No. 2 doubles defeat of Micah Roos and Joel Trousdale. After dropping his first singles match of the season on Friday, Liu stuck to doubles. In tandem with
Eric Furuya (Sr., Portland, Ore.) in the No. 3 flight, the pair of Boxer seniors took an 8-5 decision over Ian Rapport and Borland.
Kawamura was sensational playing in the No. 3 singles slot on Saturday, smoking past Trousdale 6-0, 6-0 to improve his season singles record to 13-3, matching the idle
Brandon Schlack (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.) for team best. Furuya met little resistance from Tyler Day in the No. 4 singles flight, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 win.
The only hitch in the day came in the No. 1 doubles flight, where Pacific's 12-match doubles win streak came to an end.
Troy Zuroske (So., Richland, Wash.) and
Spencer Hing (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) fell to Cody Levien and Zach Lyons 8-6. Hing bounced back later in singles. Playing No. 1 flight for the first time this season, Hing knocked off Lyons 6-2, 6-4.
The Boxers took every set in singles and few were close.
Giancarlo Battaglia (Fr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) defeated Roos 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 2 match and
Kolin Wong (Jr., Captain Cook, Hawaii) took care of Colvin 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5.
The Boxers finished with a 6-1 record on the home courts, their only loss coming to NWC regular season champion Whitman. The Boxers have a rematch on their minds as they head to Walla Walla, Wash. for the NWC Tournament.
“We are excited to get back to work this week and prepare for the tournament,” said Jackson. “Our goal all along has been to make it to the tournament finals and have a shot to be the first to beat Whitman in a long time. Now it is time to make it happen.”
Pacific will face third-place George Fox (9-3, 10-7) next Saturday, a win likely pitting them against the four-time defending conference champion Missionaries (12-0, 19-3) the following day.
