WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Whitman College men's tennis team finished off its Spring Break trip in thrilling yet heart-breaking fashion Wednesday afternoon, staging an impressive comeback in singles before dropping a razor-thin 5-4 decision to Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Cal Lutheran, ranked No. 12 nationally in NCAA Division III, led 2-1 after the opening set of doubles and stretched its lead to 4-1 by taking the first two decisions in singles.

Sam Sadeghi

That's when No. 19 Whitman kicked started a rally that fell just short when the last match was finished.

After sophomore Sam Sadeghi started the comeback with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ben Inchalik at No. 6 singles, senior Etienne Moshevich trimmed Whitman's deficit to 4-3 with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Ray Worley at No. 2 singles.

Whitman then pulled even at 4-4 when junior Adriel Borshansky nailed down a 6-3, 3-6, 6-9 win over Cody Kowalczyk at No. 5 singles.

Andrew La Cava

That left the final outcome resting on completion of the singles match at No. 3, where Whitman freshman Andrew La Cava was locked in a three-set battle with Cal Lutheran junior Justin Wilson.

La Cava fought back to win the second set, squaring the match at one set apiece, and then worked his way to a 5-4 lead and a 40-30 match point in the third. Wilson turned aside that match point, however, and the set soon moved to a tie-breaker, with Wilson prevailing 7-6 (7-4).

Moshevich teamed with sophomore Jeff Tolman to score Whitman's lone team in doubles, beating Wilson and Kowalczyk 9-8 (7-3) in the No. 2 slot. 

The match was Whitman's sixth in as many days and completed its Spring Break trip to California.

Now 9-6 on the season, Whitman is off next week before resuming its pursuit of a fourth straight Northwest Conference title in early April.

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