WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Colton Malesovas and Chase Friedman closed out singles wins on different courts nearly to the second Sunday afternoon, clinching Whitman College's eighth consecutive Northwest Conference men's tennis tournament title with a 5-1 defeat of second-seeded Pacific (Ore.) University on a perfect spring day at the Whitman Tennis Courts.

The 15th-ranked Missionaries (21-5) surrendered their first championship-match point in six years to the Boxers (15-6) who nabbed the point at No. 3 doubles.

Other than that one match Whitman roared past what was still a talented Pacific squad. "It was wonderful to see the progression of our players as the regular season was winding down," said head coach Jeff Northam. "That's what you ask for from a team -- finish better than you started. And against a strong squad from Pacific that's what we needed today. It speaks well of the conference to see teams rising up, presenting growing challenges for the top spot in the league."

Ahead 2-1 after doubles Whitman picked up its first singles point from Petar Jivkov at 4-singles. Playing on the same court where Whitman's women's team clinched their NWC tournament title Saturday afternoon Jivkov painted a near masterpiece, firing his way past Pacific's Clark Wininger by scores of 6-2 and 6-1.

Malesovas at No. 1 and Friedman at No. 5 had both captured their respective first sets and were rolling toward finishes on their courts while Phillip Locklear was trying to finish out his Boxer opponent at 3-singles. Locklear was up a set and leading in the second, eventually getting to 4-1, while Friedman was serving for the win after breaking Pacific's Reuban Mulhern to go ahead 5-1 in their second set.,Up on court 1 Malesovas had held serve over Giancarlo Battaglia to also climb near the pinnacle of his match, 5-2, after rebounding from an early 2-1 deficit in the set.,

With Locklear up at No. 3, Zach Hewlin up early in his third set at No. 2 and Jake Hoeger rallying to take his first set Whitman's fate looked bright as it sought out another postseason conference crown.

Nearly simultaneously Friedman, on one of the lower courts, and Malesovas, on the upper court at the same end as Friedman, closed out their victories to claim the fourth and fifth points rewarding the partisan crowd of over 100 and sending the rest of the Whitman players in a rush toward the 'winning' end of the complex.

The Missionaries picked up their first point of the day from the senior pairing of Malesovas and James Rivers, a duo that entered the weekend ranked seventh in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's West region rankings. Their challengers, Grayson Frazier and Brennan Faith, carried a West region ranking of No. 8 into Sunday's match. The battle began with the Whitman tandem gaining an early edge but the Pacific pair fought back to pull within one at 4-3. Eventually Malesovas and Rivers added a break to their total and finished off the Boxers' pair, 8-5, to get the ball rolling for Whitman.

Hewlin and Hoeger followed the same script at 2-doubles, even finishing with the same score in their win over Battaglia and Wininger.

Jivkov and Robert Carter nearly pulled off the sweep for the Missionaries at No. 3 but after pulling even at 6-6 they surrendered the final two games to Josh Bernstein and Mulhern who served out for the win.

Whitman's string of tournament championships began in 2008, one season after entering the tournament as the top seed but falling in the championship match. Since taking that 2008 crown the Missionaries have surrendered a total of five points in championship matches. Pacific's point on Sunday was the first allowed since Whitman captured the 2010 title over Willamette University by the same 5-1 score.

Sunday's victory moves the Missionaries into the NCAA Division III tournament that is set to take place at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, on May 18-23.