Wesley Upton (Hillsboro, Ore.) won the decisive third set at No. 6 singles to lead the Pacific men's tennis team to a 5-4 win over Whitworth on Sunday in Spokane.
Upton and the Pirates' Ben Bethards had each won a set with the match to be decided in their No. 6 singles flight. He found himself behind a 3-5 deficit to rally for a 6-5 lead before Bethards forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Upton took an early 3-1 lead before Bethards came back to tie it at 4. Three-straight points by Upton secured the set and the match for the Boxers.
With the win, Pacific improves to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates fall to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the conference.
Pacific head coach
Brian Jackson said he was proud of his team. "I am so proud of the guys for fighting till the end and pulling out the 5-4 victory. I can't say enough about Wes and how he deserved this win."
The Boxers shuffled up their doubles lineup, who were all playing together for the first time. Pacific had a comeback victory at No. 1 doubles by the tandem of
Oscar Wight (Adelaide, Australia)/
Sage Katayama (Mililani, Hawaii), who won 8-6. They picked up their second doubles win on the day at No. 3 when freshmen
Rayden Murata (Honolulu, Hawaii) and
Ford Nakagawa (Aiea, Hawaii) were also victorious by an 8-6 margin to give the Boxers a 2-1 lead going into singles.
The Boxers quickly picked up wins in singles by Wight and
Reuben Mulhern (Boise, Idaho) at No. 1 and 2 singles. The Pirates won the No. 3, 4 and 5 singles flights to tie the match at four with it to be decided at No. 6 singles and Upton.
Jackson explained that it was a match that went back and forth in front of a very excited crowd. "Being down a break in the third, Wesley came up with some clutch shots to take it to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, he showed the fight that we have loved from him for the last four years in pulling out the victory for us."
Next, Pacific will host George Fox on Saturday, Mar. 18 at 1 p.m. and Colorado College in a non-conference match on Sunday, Mar. 19 at 10 a.m.
