Men's Tennis Tops Lewis & Clark, Captures Second Straight NWC Title

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Whitman College men's tennis team capped a perfect Northwest Conference road slate Sunday, rolling past Lewis & Clark College 7-0 at the LC Tennis Dome to clinch its second straight NWC regular-season title and a record 30th conference crown.

Whitman (13-5, 12-0 NWC) completed the sweep behind straight-set wins on five of six singles courts after taking two of three in doubles to secure the early lead. The Blues' 30th league championship moves them past Pacific Lutheran for the most conference titles in NWC men's tennis history.

The title secures the No. 1 seed in the Northwest Conference Tournament which the Blues will now host in two weeks.

Senior Alexander Stage provided the clincher at No. 1 singles in a three-set battle, edging Kaden Sigurdsson 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 after teaming with Niklas Jensen for a 7-6 (4) win at the top doubles position. Jensen also dominated at No. 2 singles, winning 6-2, 6-2 over Noah Sutin to put Whitman firmly in control.

In the middle of the lineup, Artem Manov gutted out a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (0) victory at No. 3 singles, while Guillermo Rodriguez cruised past Wade McDermott 6-2, 6-2 on court four. Charles Rush added a 6-3, 6-3 decision at No. 5 singles and Hanri Luo completed the sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6.

Luo and Rodriguez set the tone in doubles with a 6-1 win at No. 3, and Lewis & Clark's lone victory came at the second spot, where Sigurdsson and Spencer Loucks topped Rush and Manov 6-2.

Whitman closes out the conference season next weekend with home matches against Willamette and Puget Sound.

#GoWhitman

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