Middle Of The Lineup Lifts Boxers Past Bearcats
Box Score
FOREST GROVE – Pacific relied on the middle of their lineup top pull out a tight win Sunday as the Boxers edged out Willamette 5-4 in Northwest Conference men's tennis action at the Holce Tennis Courts.
Leading 2-1 after the doubles flights, the Boxers found themselves knotted in a tied match when Jack Schreiber beat
Brian Kyaw (Fr., South San Francisco, Calif.) in the No. 5 flight. Pacific bounced right back as the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 players all pulled through to secure the victory.
Giancarlo Battaglia (So., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) made it a 3-2 match when scored a straight sets victory over Sam Wexman, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 2 flight to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Alen Suklje (So., Portland, Ore.) pulled through a second set tiebreaker to score a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win over Devin Abney in the No. 4 match.
Brandon Schlack (So., Long Beach, Calif.) iced it for the Boxers in a three-set affair in the No. 3 flight, knocking off Will Cooper 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Every win proved critical as the Bearcats won the remaining two singles matches. Joshua Wong went three sets to beat
Troy Zuroske (Jr., Richland, Wash.) at No. 1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, while Blake Brash used a third set super tiebreaker to beat
Kolin Wong (Sr., Captain Cook, Hawaii) in the No. 6 match, 6-2, 2-6, 10-3.
The Boxers benefited from taking a 2-1 lead in the doubles matches thanks to the lower part of the order. Suklje and Wong picked up their first win of the season together at No. 2, beating Cooper and Schreiber 8-4, while Schlack and
David Yanagita (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) won their first match together as a doubles tandem, pulling through a tiebreaker to beat Gunnar Lee and Abney 9-8 (7-3).
Zuroske and Battaglia, Pacific's No. 1 doubles team, were handed their first loss of the season in an 8-4 decision to Wong and Wexman.
“This was a good win for the guys today,” said Pacific Director of Tennis
Brian Jackson. “It was a really tight match and the middle of the lineup really stepped up today. We are hoping that winning a tight match turns the tide for us this season.”
Pacific improved to 3-5, 3-4 NWC, with the victory. Willamette dropped to 3-6, 3-4 NWC.
Pacific will return to the road on Friday, taking on Lewis & Clark in Portland before starting another three-match home stand on Saturday when they host Whitworth.
