Box ScorePORTLAND, Ore. – Pacific used a solid team performance to lock up the No. 2 seed in next week's Northwest Conference Championships as the Boxers closed the regular season Sunday with a 6-3 win over Lewis & Clark in men's tennis action at the L&C Tennis Dome.
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With the victory, the Boxers not only picked up the season sweep over the Pioneers and earned the point from L&C in the NWC Championship point standings to earn the tournament's No. 2 seed. The Boxers open play in the NWC Championships on Saturday against No. 3 seed George Fox in Walla Walla, Wash.
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Pacific closed out the regular season with a 14-5 record and finished second in the NWC overall standings at 10-2.
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"I am so proud of our regular season play," said Pacific head coach
Brian Jackson. "We had a much tougher road this year, so the 10-2 record in conference is much more impressive that last year's 11-1. We're looking forward to getting healthy for this weekend's tournament. I think we are feeling good about things and we are excited to give it a run."
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Pacific opened the day by winning two of three doubles matches from the Pioneers (8-8, 7-5 NWC), who themselves were fighting for tournament seeding.Â
Brennan Faith (So., Redondo Beach, Calif.) returned from injury and paired with regular doubles partner
Grayson Frazier (Sr., La Canada, Calif.) for an 8-2 win at No. 1 over Pim Trouerbach and Gordon Barrows.Â
Josh Bernstein (So. Novato, Calif.) and
Reuben Mulhern (So., Boise, Idaho) followed with an 8-6 win at No. 3 over Harrison Collins and Keane Hindle.
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Lewis & Clark's doubles win came at No. 2, with Michael Brewer and Kevin Ross taking an 8-5 decision from
Giancarlo Battaglia (Sr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and
Oscar Wight (Fr., Adelaide, Australia).
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The Pioneers tied the team score entering singles with Daniel Hahm collecting a 6-0, 6-3 victory over
Clark Wininger (So., San Francisco, Calif.). Battaglia gave Pacific the lead back with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Brewer at No. 1 to finish his regular season with a 14-4 record. Faith tried to work off the rust against Ross at No. 2, but fell 6-4, 6-2.
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The rest of the matches went the Boxers' direction. Frazier collected a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Trouerbach at No. 3, Bernstein scored a 7-6, 6-4 win over Collins at No. 5 and Mulhern beat Barrows at No. 6, 6-4, 6-3.
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"We were happy to have Brennan back and he played great in doubles, but he didn't have the legs for singles yet," Jackson said. "Grayson continued his outstanding play and Giancarlo went out and erased the memory of yesterday's performance. We had big wins by both Josh and Reuben, avenging bottom of the lineup losses in the first matchup to clinch."
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The Northwest Conference Championships will take place Saturday and Sunday at Whitman College's tennis courts. No. 4 seed Lewis & Clark and No. 1 seed Whitman will play Saturday at 1 p.m., with Pacific's match against No. 3 seed George Fox beginning at 4 p.m. The winners of the two matches will play in the final on Sunday at noon.
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