WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Friday afternoon's 8-1 Northwest Conference victory over visiting University of Puget Sound clinched the regular season league title in men's tennis for host and 15th-ranked Whitman College. The Missionaries used a lineup with 12 different players to earn a season sweep of the Loggers.
Whitman (17-5, 11-0 NWC) accounted for its seventh point in the league's competition formula for tennis and while Pacific (Ore.) University could pull even with two wins over the weekend -- should Whitman falter in its final conference match Saturday against visiting Pacific Lutheran University -- the Missionaries own the head-to-head tie-breaker over Pacific, assuring Whitman that it will host the NWC conference tournament April 25-26. On the other side of the net, Puget Sound drops to 1-11 overall and 0-11 in the league with one more match to play.
The Missionaries rolled through doubles Friday against the Loggers, taking all three points after surrendering a maximum of three games during the trio of wins.
Jake Hoeger and
James Rivers were teamed at No. 1 and captured the first point with an 8-2 win,
Jacob Christensen and
Luke Targett took the second point with an 8-3 triumph at No. 2 and the final point came from the tandem of
Petar Jivkov and
Parker Silverman which downed its Logger foes 8-1 in a rout.
Gary Ho opened singles play for Whitman with a lightning-quick 6-0, 6-0 win over Puget Sound's Colton Wright at No. 3 before the Loggers picked up a win at 2-singles when
Chase Friedman had to withdraw.
Adam Rapoport got the Missionaries back on a roll with a straight-set win at 4-singles followed by
Phillip Locklear's commanding 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1.
Alex Noyes allowed UPS's Jacob Kompolt just a single game during his win at 5-singles and
Trevor Fennessy put the finishing touches on the match with a 7-6 (2), 6-0 win at No. 6.
The regular season concludes Saturday for the Missionaries with a pair of home matches on the Whitman Tennis Courts. Pacific Lutheran visits Walla Walla for a 1 p.m. conference match which will be followed by a non-conference match against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College at approximately 4 p.m.
