PORTLAND, Ore. – It has been a long time since Whitman College's men's tennis team has suffered defeat at the hands of a Northwest Conference foe. Roughly nine years in fact. All good things, however, must come to an end and Saturday Lewis and Clark College did the improbable, beating the Missionaries 5-4 in NWC action.
 
Whitman (11-7, 7-1 NWC) entered singles play trailing 2-1 after Zach Hewlin and Phillip Locklear fell 8-6 to Gordon Barrows and Brenden Barrows. The only Whitman doubles team to win was Robert Carter and Jake Hoeger who won 8-4 in the two spot. Adam Rapoport and Gary Ho were unable to pull out a win for the Whits in their 8-3 defeat.
 
Hewlin and Locklear both bounced back in singles, where they would win playing in the one and two spots, respectively. Hewlin fell behind a set early but eventually prevailed 6-7, 6-1, 6-0. Locklear did not waste much time, coming away with a two-set, 6-3, 7-6 victory. Ho also rebounded well from a doubles loss, defeating Lewis and Clark's (7-7, 4-2 NWC) B. Barrows 6-2, 6-4.
 
Whitman's Rapoport and Carter both dropped their singles matches. Rapoport played at number four and was unable to come out victorious, falling 6-2, 6-2. Carter, however, hung tight for most of the afternoon. After stealing set one 7-6, he would end up on the short end of the next two, 6-4, 6-4.
 
In what was the match of the afternoon, Petar Jivkov and Kevin Ross played an outstanding three-set, back-and-forth battle. Jivkov grabbed the first set 7-5, but Ross bounced back taking set two 7-6. In the third and deciding set, Jivkov came up just short, dropping the match 5-6, 7-6, 7-6.
 
Although the loss is a tough one, the Whits could still end the weekend atop the NWC standings with a win in tomorrow's match against George Fox University, Whitman will have the chance to tie Pacific University's 8-1 record.