WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Winning its 13th straight match, the Whitman College men's tennis team kicked off its Spring Break swing through California in impressive fashion with a 6-3 victory over Pomona-Pitzer Saturday afternoon in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Now 14-1 on the season, Whitman won two of three close decisions in doubles and then captured four of six battles in singles. Four of the singles matches went to three sets with each side winning two.

Etienne Moshevich

The Sagehens, losing for only the second time in nine matches this season, entered Saturday's showdown with higher rankings than Whitman at both the regional and national levels. The latest NCAA Division III national rankings, released earlier this week, had Pomona-Pitzer at No. 17 and Whitman at No. 26.

"This was a great win for us," Whitman coach Jeff Northam said. "We're savoring this one. This is our first victory over a top 20 team in the last two years."

Chris Bailey

Whitman, No. 7 in the most recent West Region rankings, seized early command with 8-5 victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. 

While Matt Solomon and Etienne Moshevich were getting the best of Uday Singh and Frankie Allinson in the top spot, Christoph Fuchs and Quin Miller were beating Tommy Meyer and Alex Groth in the second slot.

Pomona-Pitzer, which entered the match with a No. 5 regional ranking, salvaged a team point at No. 3, where Max Sabel and Grant Friedman slipped past Whitman's Jake Cappel and Jeff Tolman 8-6.

Cappel and Tolman, after falling behind 4-0 at the outset, fought back to even their match at 6-6. "Jake and Jeff did a great job, even if the comeback fell a little short at the end," Northam said. 

Solomon and Tolman, playing at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, won their first sets before eventually losing in three.

"Both Matt and Jeff were also up a service break in their third sets," Northam said. "They couldn't quite finish off their matches, but they were also up against very good players."

Solomon lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Meyer while Tolman fell 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Singh.

The first two singles matches to finish, however, came at No. 3, where Moshevich knocked off Allinson 6-4, 6-2, and at No. 4, where Chris Bailey decisioned Groth 7-5, 6-2.

Conor Holton-Burke

"Hats off to Etienne and Chris," Northam said. "Their two wins gave us a 4-1 lead in the team scoring, which really put the pressure on Pomona-Pitzer in the remaining matches."

No. 1 and No. 2 singles were the next to finish, trimming Whitman's lead to 4-3.

But Conor Holton-Burke tallied the clinching fifth point for Whitman with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 comeback at No. 6 singles. Jasper Follows also rallied at No. 5 singles for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph to complete the scoring.

"I couldn't be more proud of Conor and Jasper," Northam said. "Christoph wasn't able to go in singles because of his leg injury, so this was a day when neither Jasper nor Conor knew where they might be playing in singles. They both came through for us when we needed it."

Jasper Follows

Oddly enough, in the four singles matches that went to three sets, the players who won the first set in each case ended up losing. "I don't think I've ever seen that happen before," Northam said.

Watching his team stretch its current win streak to 13 was also a new sight for Northam, now in his 17th season at Whitman. "Winning 13 straight in a season is a great accomplishment for the guys, and it's the longest streak we've had in my time as a coach," he said.

Last year's team won 11 straight matches as a part of a 24-5 campaign.

Although Saturday's win was a big one, Whitman has little time to celebrate. Next up is a Sunday doubleheader against two Division III teams that can lay claim to being the best in the nation.

Whitman starts at 9 a.m. with Cal Lutheran, which is 11-0 to start its season after edging No. 1-ranked and defending national champion UC-Santa Cruz by a 5-4 count on Saturday.

Whitman and UC-Santa then play later in the afternoon.

Whitman dropped an 8-1 decision to Santa Cruz early this season in Walla Walla. Several decisions in both doubles and singles went down to the wire in that match.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu