Boxers Outs Bruins, Await Meeting With Whitman For NWC Tourney Title
Box ScoreWALLA WALLA, Wash. – Two years after being upset by George Fox in the Northwest Conference Tournament semifinals, Pacific made sure that it wouldn't happen again Friday as the Boxers cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Bruins in men's tennis action at the Bratton Tennis Center.
With the victory, Pacific advances to the tournament for the first time in school history. The Boxers will face NWC regular season champion and No. 14 ranked Whitman, who beat Lewis & Clark in the other semifinal 5-1.
"It was a battle, just as we expected, but we came out on top," said Pacific Head Coach and 2014 NWC Coach of the Year
Brian Jackson. "George Fox put up an amazing fight in singles and made us work for everything. I couldn't be prouder of our team and I feel we are in a good place mentally to give Whitman a great fight tomorrow."
While Jackson termed the match a battle, the Boxers made easy work of the No. 3 seeded Bruins in doubles.
Brennan Faith (Fr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) and
Grayson Frazier (Jr., La Canada, Calif.) opened the match with an 8-1 defeat of Preston Mann and Chace Stalcup in the No. 2 flight.
The First Team All-NWC tandem of
Troy Zuroske (Sr., Richland, Wash.) and
Giancarlo Battaglia (Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) followed with an 8-2 win over Justin McClain and Chris Lilley at No. 1 while
Josh Bernstein (Fr., Novato, Calif.) and
Clark Wininger (Fr., San Francisco, Calif.) completed the sweep with an 8-4 win over Nick Grafton and Mitchell Miyashiro at No. 3.
With as dominant as they played in singles, the Boxers had to come from behind in three of the four contested singles matches to secure the victory. Battaglia gave Pacific a 4-0 lead with his fifth straight singles victory, a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Lilley at No. 2.
Mann gave George Fox their lone win of the match, surviving a first set tiebreaker with Faith to take a 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win at No. 3. Bernstein clinched the win at No. 4, coming back from a set down to beat Grafton 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Pacific and Whitman will face each other for the second time this season at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Whitman won the first meeting of the season, 6-3, in Walla Walla on Mar. 7.
"We know how much of a challenge it will be, but this team has responded to challenges all year, I know they will bring their best," Jackson said.
