Boxers End Southern California Trip With Pair Of Victories
Pacific/Chapman Box Score |
Pacific/Occidental Box Score
LOS ANGELES – A doubleheader day of tennis ended positively for Pacific Thursday as the Pacific men's tennis team closed their southern California trip with victories over Chapman and Occidental.
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In the day's regular scheduled match, the Boxers received a pair of doubles victories and a trio of three set victories to score a 5-4 win over Chapman. In the nightcap, moved from Wednesday due to rain, a sweep of the doubles gave the Boxers the momentum they needed for a 6-3 victory.
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"I am very proud of our guys today," said Pacific Head Coach
Brian Jackson. "They battled very hard and proved they were better team in both matches."
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With the wins, Pacific finished with a 2-1 record on the trip and improved to 7-3 overall.
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PACIFIC 5, CHAPMAN 4
Pacific opened the morning with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, which proved critical as the match progressed.Â
Brennan Faith (Fr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) and
Grayson Frazier (Jr., La Canada, Calif.) cruised to an 8-4 win over Charlie Werman and Sam Mitteldorf at No. 2, while
Josh Bernstein (Fr., Novato, Calif.) and
Reuben Mulhern (Fr., Boise, Idaho) were 8-3 winners over Justin Thompson and Zach Resnick at No. 3.
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The Boxers' No. 1 tandem of
Troy Zuroske (Sr., Richland, Wash.) and
Giancarlo Battaglia (Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) were down big in the No. 1 match to Troy Akin and Brett Buford, but managed to roar back and force a tiebreaker. The Panthers (5-7) swept the tiebreaker, however, to clinch the 9-8 victory.
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Bernstein and
Clark Wininger (Fr., San Francisco, Calif.) came up big in the lower singles flights, with Bernstein surviving a three-set thriller with Mitteldorf at No. 5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Wininger coming back from a set down to beat Hunter Morris, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 6.
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Zuroske clinched the match with another three-set battle, besting Thompson in the No. 1 match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Battaglia went three sets with Werman at No. 2, but was forced to retire with an injury. With the match in hand, Pacific opted to default the No. 3 and No. 4 matches in order to complete the 90-minute drive to Occidental for the evening match.
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PACIFIC 6, OCCIDENTAL 3
Despite the rush to the match and Battaglia's injury, the Boxers seemed little phased as they opened the match with a sweep of the doubles.Â
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At No. 1, Zuroske, paired with
Lorne Bulling (So., Corvallis, Ore.), scored an 8-5 win over Josh Dancu and Avery Howard. Faith and Frazier took an 8-1 victory from Eric Kazangian and Kevin Siebs at No. 2. Bernstein and Mulhern followed that up with an 8-6 win over Trevor Brown and David Cotton at No. 3.
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The Boxers' legs held as they took three of the six singles matches to secure the team victory. Faith collected a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kazangian, Bulling was a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Brown at No. 4 and Wininger was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Howard at No. 5.
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Occidental's (2-12) Siebs took the No. 1 match over Zuroske, 7-5, 6-4, while Cotton went three sets to knock off Frazier, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3. Jeremy Kirchoff endured a pair of tiebreakers to knock off
Alen Suklje (Jr., Beaverton, Ore.) at No. 6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8.
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Pacific returns to Northwest Conference play and the home courts next Friday as they host Pacific Lutheran.