Box ScoreWALLA WALLA, Wash. – For the second year in a row, Pacific saw their season end with a hard fought match against the conference's perennial power as the Boxers fell 5-1 in the Northwest Conference Men's Tennis Championship final to No. 15 ranked Whitman at the Whitman Tennis Courts.
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The Missionaries put themselves in the driver's seat by winning two of three close doubles matches, then proceeded to quickly march through three singles victories to claim the match and the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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With the loss, Pacific ends their season at 15-6. Whitman, ranked No. 15 in the latest ITA Division III poll, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 21-5 record.
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"I am so proud of this team and their performance this year," said head coach
Brian Jackson. "They impressed me with how hard they worked and fought year and did it with class. We just didn't have enough today. Doubles is really important against this team and coming out down 2-1 was a huge mountain to overcome."
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Neither team was ready to give an inch in the doubles matches, but the Missionaries proceeded to use the home court to their advantage. Colton Malesovas and James Rivers opened with an 8-5 win over
Brennan Faith (So., Redondo Beach, Calif.) and
Grayson Frazier (St., La Canada, Calif.). Zach Hewlin and Jake Hoeger made it 2-0 with an 8-5 win over
Giancarlo Battaglia (Sr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and
Clark Wininger (So., San Francisco, Calif.) at No. 2. Faith & Frazier concluded the season with a 12-5 record.
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Reuben Mulhern (So., Boise, Idaho) and
Josh Bernstein (So., Novato, Calif.) prevented the Whitman sweep by pulling out a close 8-6 win over Robert Carter and Petar Jivkov. Mulhern and Bernstein finished the season together with an 8-2 record.
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Whitman made easy work in the singles to close out the match. Jivkov rebounded from his doubles loss to beat Wininger at No. 4, 6-2, 6-1. Chase Friedman made it 4-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mulhern at No. 5 and Malesovas closed out the match in the No. 1 flight with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Battaglia.
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This year's tournament marked the fifth straight appearance for Pacific in the NWC Championships and the second time in as many years that they entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Boxers fell to Whitman 5-0 in last year's final.
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The match was the final for seniors Battaglia, Frazier and
Jason Voss (Jamul, Calif.) and Faith, who is a senior academically.
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"I am proud of our seniors and how much they have brought to the team," Jackson said. "I hate that we weren't able to send them out on top, but they have a heck of a final year to be proud of."
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