PORTLAND, Ore. - In a grueling five-hour match, the George Fox University Bruins battled back from an early 2-1 doubles deficit to win their 2010 Northwest Conference opener 6-3 over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers in men's tennis action Friday afternoon here at the Lewis & Clark Tennis Bubble.

The host Pioneers prevailed in two of the three close doubles duels, taking No. 1 as George Allen and Peter Ray defeated Pedro and Juan Munoz 8-5, and No. 3 with Quinn Roth-Carter and Andrew Davy edging Nick Jenness and Josh Williford 9-7.  The Bruins took No. 2 behind Scott Barnett and Matthew Gardner, who knocked off Junya Furakawa and Wataru Nakamura 8-6.

Barnett evened the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Allen at No. 1 singles, but Ray got the lead back for the Pios with a narrow 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over Pedro Munoz at No. 2.  Juan Munoz downed Furakawa 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3, and Jenness won an impressive battle over Nakamura 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4.  With the match still on the line, Bruin freshmen Gardner and Luke Pritchard prevailed at the Nos. 5 and 6 spots respectively, Gardner clipping Roth-Carter 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8) and Pritchard defeating Davy 6-2, 6-1.

The young and improving Bruins, who have only one senior (Jenness) and a new head coach in Neal Ninteman, climbed to 2-0 on the season, doubling their number of victories from all of last year when they struggled through a 1-16 campaign and 0-16 conference season.  It also snapped a 20-match losing streak in conference play, the Bruins' last NWC win having been a 6-3 victory at Pacific University on April 6, 2008.  Lewis & Clark fell to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

George Fox hosts Willamette University Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in a conference contest to be played at the West Hills Racquet Club in Beaverton, Ore.  Lewis & Clark hosts Pacific Saturday at 1:00 p.m., also an NWC match.