WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Whitman College men's tennis team stayed perfect in Northwest Conference play with a 7-0 sweep of Linfield University on Saturday afternoon at the Whitman Tennis Courts.
The Blues, now 10-5 overall and 9-0 in NWC action, swept all six singles courts after dropping a tight decision at No. 1 doubles. Linfield fell to 5-11 and 5-5 in conference play.
Whitman set the tone in doubles with wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 spots to claim the opening point. At No. 3, Hanri Luo and Guillermo Rodriguez rolled to a 6-1 victory over Alexander Rosenquist and Nick Owens, before Charles Rush and Artem Manov closed out a 6-4 win at No. 2 against Joey Henderson and Cameron Paulsen. The Wildcats salvaged a 7-6 (5) win at No. 1, where Brooks Lerfald and Zac Nakajima edged Alexander Stage and Niklas Jensen in a tiebreak.
Whitman dominated singles, winning all six matches in straight sets. Luo was first off court with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 over Gavin Orozco to push the lead to 2-0. Manov quickly followed at No. 3, cruising past Henderson 6-1, 6-4.
At the top of the lineup, Stage delivered a 6-1, 7-5 win against Lerfald at No. 1 singles to move Whitman within one point of the team victory. Rush then clinched the team result with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Rosenquist on court five. Rodriguez added another straight-sets win at No. 4, 6-1, 6-4 over Paulsen.
Jensen finished off the sweep in the closest singles match of the day. posted a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 2 over Nakajima, taking the tiebreak 7-1 to cap the 7-0 team result.
The Blues return to action on Sunday, March 29 vs. Pacific at 11:00 a.m.
#GoWhitman
