The Pacific University men's tennis team, who is ranked No. 34 in the nation, returned to its winning ways with a 7-2 win over Whitworth on Saturday.
The Boxers (2-4, 2-2 NWC) started the day, taking two of the three doubles matches. The tandem of
Clark Wininger (San Francisco, Calif.) and
Oscar Wight (Adelaide, Australia) won in convincing fashion with an 8-0 victory at No. 1 doubles. The other win for the Boxers came at No. 2 with the duo of
Ford Nakagawa (Aiea, Hawaii) and
Reuben Mulhern (Boise, Idaho) won by an 8-3 margin. The win by Mulhern is the 38
th of his career in doubles which is the most of active Boxers.
Wininger continued his winning ways, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. The senior from San Francisco has won 19 of his last 21 singles matches for the Boxers and improves his winning percentage for his career to .764 (42-13). Another big winner for Pacific was senior
Josh Bernstein (Novato, Calif.), who snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles.
"It was a solid win by the guys," said Pacific head coach
Brian Jackson. "We played really well at the top of the lineup and battled some tough guys down the line."
The Pirates (0-6, 0-3 NWC) picked up wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 5 singles.
Wight won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles for the Boxers, plus Mulhern was victorious 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. The win for the Boise product was the 36
th of his career. Since 2010, his 36 wins ranks fourth all-time in Boxer history. The final win for Pacific in singles came from sophomore
Griffin Fraser (Salem, Ore.), who posted a 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
Next, Pacific will host Linfield on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Holce Tennis Courts. "We are looking forward to a much-improved Linfield team," said Jackson. "It should be a good battle."
