BEAVERTON, Ore. - Inspired by
their top player's gritty performance on the court despite a
bad stomach virus, the George Fox University Bruins gutted out a
5-4 win over the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in a Northwest
Conference women's tennis match Friday afternoon here at the
Tualatin Hills Tennis Center.
The match was originally scheduled for the GFU campus courts,
but rain and snow two days earlier and extreme daytime cold
temperatures forced the contest indoors.
The Bruins dropped the No. 1 doubles match as Alyssa Emoto and
Shaina Inn fell to PLU's Leah Newell and Tina Aarsvold
8-6. Second Team All-NWC player Molly
Beaumont, fighting an upset stomach that sometimes had her
leaving the court, teamed up with Cara Griffith as the Bruins
evened the match with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles over the
Lutes' Deanna Ellmer and Hailey Rile. George Fox went
ahead with an 8-6 win at No. 3, Bethany Nguyen and Liliya
Abildayeva prevailing over Saiyare Refaei and Caitlyn Hoerr.
The Bruins secured the match with singles wins by Inn over
Refaei 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Griffith over Ellmer 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5,
and Abildayeva over Rile 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6. Beaumont, who had
been moved down to No. 2 singles and was trailing 2-1 to Aarsvold
in the first set when the results were assured in the Bruins'
favor, promptly retired at that point. PLU then picked up
additional wins at No. 1, Newell topping Emoto 6-2, 7-5, and at No.
4, where Hoerr edged Nguyen 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8).
NEXT: George Fox (2-1, NWC 1-1) visits Linfield
College Saturday at 10: 00 a.m. ... Pacific Lutheran (0-3, NWC 0-3)
goes to Willamette University Saturday, playing at 12:15 p.m.
