NEWBERG, Ore. - Keeping alive their hopes of
finishing fourth in the Northwest Conference and earning a spot in
the NWC Tournament on April 16-17, the George Fox University Bruins
picked up a crucial 8-1 win over the Lewis & Clark College
Pioneers in men's tennis action Saturday afternoon here at
the GFU campus courts.
The Bruins' win, coupled with Pacific University's
9-0 loss at home to league-leading Whitman College, moved George
Fox into sole possession of fourth place at 5-5, half a game ahead
of Pacific's 4-5 mark and Linfield College's 5-6
record. The Bruins are 6-8 overall. Lewis & Clark
fell to 0-14 overall and 0-10 in the conference.
The Bruins got off to a good start against the Pioneers by
sweeping the doubles. Peter Brown and Josiah
Jackson edged George Allen and Quinn Roth-Carter 9-7 at No. 1,
Preston Mann and Justin McClain overpowered Kerry White and Sam
Franer 8-1 at No. 2, and Nolan Staples and Pax Magaway downed
Muneeb Khan and Cole Pfeiffer 8-4 at No. 3.
Lewis & Clark notched its only win at No. 1 singles as Allen
dropped McClain 6-3, 6-4, but the Bruins swept the rest of the
singles matches in straight sets. Mann conquered Roth-Carter
6-1, 6-1 at No. 2; Brown beat Pfeiffer 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3; Magaway
whipped White 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4; Staples stopped Sam Franer 6-1,
6-1, at No. 5; and Andy Tweet topped Gabriel Trepanier 6-0, 6-2 at
No. 6.
“This was a good solid effort by the young Bruins today to
regain fourth place,” said George Fox coach Neal
Ninteman. “With Scott Barnett, our No. 1 player, out
resting an injury, our lineup consisted of one sophomore and six
freshmen, two of whom - Staples and Magaway - picked up their first
career singles wins. With such a young team, to be in the
position we're in heading in to the last week of the season
says a lot about the character of these guys; they are a special
group of young men.”
NEXT: George Fox visits Pacific Tuesday for a
3:30 p.m. match that will go a long way toward determining the NWC
Tournament field ... Lewis & Clark goes to Pacific Friday at
5:00 p.m.
