Boxers Need Help For Playoffs After Loss To George Fox
Box Score
TUALATIN, Ore. – Playing without one of their top players on a day that they needed all hands on deck, Pacific was unable to get past a red hot George Fox squad Friday as the Boxers fell 7-2 in their Northwest Conference men's tennis regular season finale at the Stafford Hills Tennis Club.
The Boxers played the match without
Giancarlo Battaglia (So., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and the absence was felt as the Boxers dropped five of the six singles matches in the loss.
Troy Zuroske (Jr., Richland, Wash.) captured the lone win for the Boxers in singles and paired with
Lorne Bulling (Fr., Corvallis, Ore.) to win at No. 1 doubles.
With the loss, Pacific needs help from the Bruins to secure a return trip to next week's NWC Championship Tournament. The Boxers fell to 5-10, 4-8 NWC and stand tied with Willamette in fourth place in the conference's point standings with four points. Willamette must beat George Fox by a 7-2 margin to score a fifth point and take the No. 4 seed outright. If tied, Pacific owns the tiebreaker by virtue of their victory over the Bearcats on Mar. 10.
George Fox (12-4, 10-1 NWC) opened the afternoon with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles by Preston Mann and Drew Milton over
Brandon Schlack (So., Long Beach, Calif.) and
David Yanagita (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.). Zuroske and Bulling pulled the Boxers even with an 8-4 win over Shawn Aldrich and Justin McClain, but Peter Brown and Chris Lilley made it a 2-1 George Fox lead with an 8-6 win over
Alen Suklje (So., Beaverton, Ore.) and
Kolin Wong (Sr., Captain Cook, Hawaii).
The Bruins won the first three singles matches to ensure the team victory. Lilley took a 6-1, 6-2 decision from Suklje at No. 2, Aldrich was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Schlack at No. 3 and Mann was a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Bulling at No. 4. Zuroske then came through with Pacific's lone point, bouncing back from a first set loss for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-2 win over McClain at No. 1.
Milton took a 6-2, 6-2 win over Wong in the No. 5 flight and Brown closed the match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over
Brian Kyaw (Fr., South San Francisco, Calif.) at No. 6.
Pacific will know their postseason fate on Sunday when Willamette travels to play George Fox.
