By Roy Elia

WALLA WALLA - Whitman men's tennis coach Jeff Northam said his No. 16 nationally-ranked team displayed "heart, intensity, and fortitude" Sunday morning during its 6-2 victory over the 12th-ranked University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs at the Bratton Tennis Center.

A valid observation when one considers that Sunday's affair was Whitman's fourth in a less-than-48-hour time period and third against a nationally-ranked opponent.

The Missionaries opened play in their weekend Quad on Friday with a 6-3 triumph over Northwest Conference rival Pacific.
Later on Friday, Whitman was edged by No. 6 nationally-ranked Trinity (Tex.), 5-4.

The Missionaries dropped a 7-2 decision to third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday night.

"There are not many teams that can do what we did this weekend," Northam said.

Whitman swept Sunday's doubles matches, getting wins from Colton Malesovas and Andrew La Cava, Andy Riggs and Jake Hoeger, and Steven Roston and James Rivers at No. 1 (8-5), No. 2 (8-6), and No. 3 (8-3), respectively.

"We won quickly at (No.) 3. We were up at one point 7-0," Northam said. "Our No. 1 doubles team was down 4-5 and love-40.

Their backs were against the wall. They showed a lot of guts and desire."

Northam also praised the singles efforts of Malesovas (No. 1) and Petar Jivkov (No. 5), and the overall performance of Roston (No. 4).

"It's nice when your horse can finish the match," Northam said of Malesovas. "It was pretty special.

"Petar gave us a big lift," Northam said. "It was nice to see him battle in the third set.

"Steven had a great weekend," Northam said. "He went 3-1 in doubles and 4-0 in singles. At this level of play, it would be a crazy weekend of play for anybody."

Northam also took a moment afterward to shift his thoughts from men's tennis to women's basketball.

"I am proud of the women's basketball program," Northam said of the team that earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 with a second-round win on Saturday night. "They are inspiring to us."

Whitman travels to Tacoma next weekend for NWC matches with Pacific Lutheran on Friday and Puget Sound on Saturday.     

Whitman vs Pacifc (Ore) March Results

Whitman vs Trinity Match Results

Whitman vs CMS Match Results

Whitman vs UC Santa Cruz Match Results