Men's Tennis Wins Share of NWC Regular Season Title

NEWBERG, Ore. — The Whitman College men's tennis team moved within one win of a second straight Northwest Conference regular season title, rolling past George Fox 6-1 on Saturday at the GFU Tennis Center.

The 54th-ranked Blues improved to 12-5 overall and a perfect 11-0 in NWC play, while the Bruins dropped to 7-9 and 6-6 in the conference. Whitman clinches at least a share of the regular season crown with the victory and can secure the outright title with one more conference win.

Whitman seized control early by taking two of three doubles courts. Charles Rush and Artem Manov put the Blues on the board first with a 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles, before Hanri Luo and Guillermo Rodriguez cruised to a 6-0 victory at No. 3. George Fox grabbed its lone doubles point at the top spot, where Zach Moore and Aiden Cruz edged Alexander Stage and Niklas Jensen 7-5.

The Blues dominated singles, winning five of six matches in straight sets to put the dual away. Jensen started the run with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Keita Shoji at No. 2, and Manov followed quickly with a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Luis Hernandez on court three. Luo finished off a perfect day with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 6 over Jayden Lovingfoss, and Rush kept Whitman rolling with a 6-1, 6-2 result against Joseph Vece at No. 5.

Rodriguez made it 6-0 Whitman by grinding out a 7-5, 6-3 win over Cruz at No. 4 singles. George Fox's point came at the top of the lineup, where Moore outlasted Stage in a match tiebreak, 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (10-4).

Whitman now turns its attention to Lewis & Clark and a chance to win the regular season title outright and hosting rights for the NWÇ Tournament later this month. The Blues and River Otters square off on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

#GoWhitman

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