SPOKANE, Wash. - With a share
of third place in the Northwest Conference men's tennis
standings and a possible spot in the NWC Tournament weighing on the
outcome, the Whitworth University Pirates strengthened their grip
on that slot with an 8-1 win over the visiting George Fox
University Bruins Sunday afternoon here at the Scotford Tennis
Center.
The win improve the Pirates' record to 9-6 overall and 6-2 in
the NWC, while George Fox fell to 5-7 overall and 4-4 in the
league. The Bruins slipped to fifth place, half a game behind
Pacific University (5-6, NWC 4-3) in a battle for the fourth and
final spot in the conference tournament.
Whitworth jumped ahead 3-0 with a sweep of the doubles matches.
The Pirates' Daniel Redfern and Colin Barrett bounced the
Bruins' Scott Barnett and Preston Mann 8-4 at No. 1, Joe
Wales and Cameron Williams downed Peter Brown and Justin McClain
8-3 at No. 2, and Colin Zalewski and John Talbot edged Pax Magaway
and Nolan Staples 8-5 at No. 3.
The Pirates secured the win by taking the top five singles,
though not without a scare in a couple of matches. Redfern
edged Barnett 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 1 in one of two singles
contests that went more than two sets. Zalewski breezed past
Brown 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2, but Williams had to fight off McClain 6-4,
7-6 (7-4) at No. 3 to give the Pirates an insurmountable lead.
Wales dropped Mann 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 and Barrett defeated
Magaway 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 to close out the Pirates'
wins. George Fox picked up its only point when Andy
Tweet defeated Stefan Dernbach 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) at No.
6.
“It was exciting to play a match with third place on the
line; it has been a while since we played one with that much
significance this late in the season,” admitted George Fox
coach Neal Ninteman. “The match was actually a lot
closer than the final score indicated, as the doubles were
well-played and we have a couple of singles that went to three sets
or down to the wire in two sets. We still have a chance to
control our own destiny, however, with big matches against Linfield
and Pacific coming up soon.”
NEXT: George Fox hosts Linfield Tuesday at 3:30
p.m. ... Whitworth hosts Lewis-Clark State College Friday in its
final non-conference match of the season at 11:00 a.m.
