The Pacific University men's tennis team battled but ended up short in a 5-4 loss to Lewis & Clark on Saturday in Portland.
The Boxers (9-6, 6-3 NWC) dropped its second-straight 5-4 decision to the nationally-ranked Pios, who also defeated Pacific by a similar score on Feb. 18 in Forest Grove.
Pacific started the day with a 2-1 advantage after doubles. Among the winners were the No. 1 team of
Oscar Wight (Adelaide, Australia) and
Clark Wininger (pictured) (San Francisco, Calif.), who posted an 8-6 win and
Reuben Mulhern (Boise, Idaho) and
Josh Bernstein (Novato, California) also were victorious by an 8-6 margin at No. 2. Lewis & Clark won the first match of the day with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Boxers' stretched their lead to 3-1 when Wininger was a 6-4, 6-2 winner at No. 1 singles. Lewis & Clark picked up a win at No. 4 singles before Wight was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 2 singles to put Pacific ahead 4-2. Seeking just one more singles victory to secure the match, the Pios came back with wins at No. 3, 5 and the decisive won at No. 6 to secure the win. In the No. 6 loss, the match was decided in the third set with the Pios' Ben DeLuca edging
Rayden Murata (Honolulu, Hawaii), 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Next, Pacific will travel to Newberg to face George Fox on Sunday at noon.
