For the seventh time on the season and third-straight match, the Pacific University men's tennis team swept all three doubles matches. In all seven matches, the Boxers were victorious including Sunday's 8-1 win over host Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington.
The Boxers (9-5, 6-2 NWC), who are ranked No. 10 in the latest ITA West Region rankings, were led by an 8-0 win by
Griffin Fraser (Salem, Ore.) and
Sean Murphy (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) at No. 3 doubles. The doubles team of
Oscar Wight (Adelaide, Australia) and
Sage Katayama (Mililani, Hawaii) were 8-1 winner at No. 2 and
Reuben Mulhern (Boise, Idaho) and
Josh Bernstein (Novato, Calif.) picked up an 8-6 win at No. 3.
Head Coach
Brian Jackson was happy to see his team jump out to the early lead on Pacific Lutheran. "It was great to see the guys jump on PLU early and not let up," said Jackson. "We were missing Clark today, but the other guys stepped up. We got good wins for Josh/Reuben in doubles, plus in singles we had some dominant performances from our 2-5 spots."
In singles play, the Boxers won five of six singles matches with all five wins coming in straight sets. The first win in singles came at No. 5 by
Ford Nakagawa (Aiea, Hawaii), who posted a 6-2, 6-1, followed by a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 by
Wesley Upton to secure the win. The next winner for Pacific came from Bernstein at No. 3, who was victorious 6-2, 6-2, plus
Rayden Murata (Honolulu, Hawaii) was also a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 4. The last winner in singles was Mulhern, who became the third Boxer to win by a 6-2, 6-2 margin.
Next, Pacific will have a rematch against No. 28 Lewis & Clark in Portland on Saturday, Apr. 8 at 11 a.m. Earlier this year, the Pios edged the Boxers, 5-4 in Forest Grove on Feb. 18.
