BEAVERTON, Ore. - In perhaps
their most impressive top-to-bottom performance of the season, the
George Fox University Bruins rolled to a 9-0 whitewash of the Lewis
& Clark College Pioneers in a Northwest Conference men's
tennis match Saturday afternoon here at the Tualatin Hills Tennis
Center's indoor courts.
The match was relocated early Saturday morning due to wet
conditions at the GFU campus courts and not enough time for them to
dry out before the match was to start at 1:00 p.m.
The Bruins opened with doubles wins by Juan and Pedro Munoz over
the Pioneers' Peter Ray/Quinn Roth-Carter 8-5 at No. 1, Scott
Barnett and Nick Jenness over Junya Furakawa and Kerry White 8-1 at
No. 2, and Matthew Gardner and Luke Pritchard over Cole Pfeiffer
and Andrew Davy 8-4 at No. 3.
“All three doubles teams played superbly today,”
noted Bruins coach Neal Ninteman. “In college tennis,
the doubles are critical, setting the tone for the entire
match. Our guys came out focused and determined, and gave us
a tremendous boost in getting all three doubles matches. Juan
and Pedro were brilliant - their best tennis of the
season. It's quite fun to watch when a couple of players put
it all together like they did today.”
In singles, the Bruins revamped their lineup, moving Jenness up
to No. 2, and their lone senior responded with a hard-fought
victory that was a key to the George Fox sweep as he defeated Junya
Furakawa 6-3, 3-6, 10 (10-6). Scott Barnett continued his
outstanding play at No. 1, defeating Peter Ray 6-1, 6-1.
In the remaining singles, it was Juan Munoz over Roth-Carter
6-0, 6-0 at No. 3; Pedro Munoz over Pfeiffer 6-3, 6-3 at no. 4;
Gardner over White 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5; and Pritchard over Davy 8-4
at No. 6.
“The whole team showed real character and heart
today, bouncing back after a tough late-night loss the night
before,” said Ninteman. “Nick has taken his game
to a new level in the past few weeks, so we called on him to bring
a boost to the top of the lineup and he answered the call big-time
today, gutting out a tough three-set win.”
George Fox (3-7, NWC 2-7) hosts Whitman College Monday at 2:00
p.m. in an NWC clash before heading for California to play four
non-conference matches during the university's spring
break. Lewis & Clark (0-13, NWC 0-11) entertain Whitman
Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
