SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitman College men's tennis team opened Northwest Conference play in convincing fashion, rolling to a 6-1 win at Whitworth on Sunday afternoon at Scotford Tennis Center.
The Blues took control early by claiming two of three doubles courts to secure the opening point. At No. 2 doubles, Niklas Jensen and Alexander Stage cruised to a 6-0 victory over Matt Froslan and Matt Hossack, and the No. 3 team of Guillermo Rodriguez and Hanri Luo followed with a 6-2 win against Connor Judson and Easton Weir to lock up the point. Whitworth's lone doubles win came at the top spot, where Ryan Ashley and Henry Preacher edged Artem Manov and Charles Rush in a 7-6 (7-1) tiebreaker.
Whitman then dominated singles play, winning five of six matches in straight sets to put the match out of reach. Jensen was first off court with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Preacher on court two, and Manov quickly followed at No. 3 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ashley. Stage kept the momentum rolling at the top spot, dropping just three games in a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Matthew Morrison to stake Whitman to an insurmountable lead.
Luo added another point at No. 6, rallying late in the second set to close out a 6-2, 7-5 win over Hossack. In one of the tightest matches of the day, Charles Boyden capped Whitman's singles haul at No. 5, grinding out a 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Froslan to make it 6-1 Blues. Whitworth's lone singles point came at No. 4, where Judson topped Rodriguez 6-4, 6-0.
With the result, Whitman moves to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in NWC play, while Whitworth falls to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Next up for the Blues is a visit to Linfield on Saturday, Feb. 21.
#GoWhitman
