A Season To Remember For Pacific Men's Tennis

Troy Zuroske

5/23/2014 10:40:00 AM

A CLEAN SWEEP:

continued to help provide a great one-two punch for the Boxers at the top of both the singles and doubles lineups. Battaglia earned his third straight All-NWC selection and his second first team nod.

Battaglia evenly split his singles matches between the No. 1 and No. 2 flights, finishing with an 8-6 overall record and a 4-3 mark in both flights. After being challenged well over the first half of the season, Battaglia was forced to sit out a couple of weeks after suffering an injury on the team's southern California trip. When he returned, Battaglia was unstoppable as he ended the season with five straight wins. His winning streak earned NWC Men's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week honors for the last two weeks of the year.

In doubles, Battaglia amassed an impressive 10-5 record with four different partners, led by his 7-5 record with

and

did not earn an All-NWC bid, his contributions for the Boxers at both singles and doubles are not to be discounted.

Wininger finished with an impressive 10-1 singles mark, anchoring the team at the bottom of the ladder. He went a perfect 4-0 in matches at No. 5, which included a 6-2, 6-2 straight set victory over Occidental's Avery Howard. He held a one-set lead over Whitman's Jake Hoeger in the NWC Tournament final, but the match went unfinished as the result was decided before Wininger could finish. Wininger also went 4-1 in the No. 6 flight, which included a straight set win over Whitman's James Rivers.

In doubles, Wininger finished with a 6-2 record, splitting his matches evenly between partners Lorne Bulling and Josh Bernstein.

CHASING PERFECTION: While not earning All-NWC distinction, a quintet of Boxers finished the season undefeated in singles, providing the team critical victories that helped the Boxers to their great record and second place finish.

Sophomore Lorne Bulling finished the year with a 7-0 singles mark while playing in four different positions in the lineup. He was 3-0 in the No. 4 flight, which includes wins against Portland State, Whitworth and Occidental. Bulling also went 7-1 in doubles, going 3-1 with Clark Wininger and 2-0 with both Troy Zuroske and Jason Voss.

Freshman Reuben Mulhern closed out his season with a 5-0 mark in singles, playing in every position from No. 3 to No. 6. The Boise, Idaho, native saw most of his action in singles in April, going 3-0 in matches in No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5. Mulhern also finished with a 9-4 doubles mark and ended the season with a seven-match win streak with partners Josh Bernstein and Alen Suklje.

Voss finished with an unblemished 3-0 singles mark and a 2-0 doubles mark. Ben Ryweck went 2-0 in singles while Wesley Upton won his only singles match of the season.

TAKE A BOW, ALEN!: Alen Suklje wrapped up a strong four-year career for the Boxers. Coming back from a football injury that wiped out his sophomore season, Sukjlje played a key role the Boxers in 2014. He finished with a 5-4 singles record and went 2-1 in the No. 5 flight. He won four of his final five matches of the season. In doubles, Suklje finished with a 5-3 record.

SEASON SUMMARY
Overall Record: 15-4
NWC Record: 11-1 (2nd, earned No. 2 seed in NWC Tournament)
Record At Home: 5-0 Away Record: 9-4 Neutral Site: 1-0
Final West Regional Ranking: 10

SEASON HONORS
NWC Coach of the Year: Brian Jackson
First Team All-Northwest Conference: Troy Zuroske, Giancarlo Battaglia
Second Team All-Northwest Conference: Brennan Faith, Josh Bernstein
NWC Men's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week: Josh Bernstein (Mar. 24-30), Brennan Faith (Mar. 31-Apr. 6), Giancarlo Battaglia (Apr. 7-13 and Apr. 14-20)

Print Friendly Version