SALEM, Ore. - Bringing their
2010-11 season to a conclusion, the vastly-improved George Fox
University Bruins dropped a 6-3 decision to the Willamette
University Bearcats to finish in a tie for fifth place in the
Northwest Conference men's tennis standings with Linfield
College Saturday afternoon here at the WU campus courts.
George Fox, which finished eighth in the NWC at 2-14 last year,
ends this season with a 6-10 overall record and a 5-7 conference
slate. Willamette is 12-5 overall and has nailed down the
second spot in the standings at 11-1. The Bearcats will take
on third-place Whitworth University in one NWC Tournament
semi-final Saturday, while No.1 Whitman College, the tournament
host, will play No. 4 Pacific University.
Willamette took the top two doubles to start the match as
Michael Baumgartner and Matthew Houser handled the Bruins'
Josiah Jackson and Peter Brown 8-5 at No. 1, and Joshua Wong and
Cody Ferguson downed Justin McClain and Preston Mann 8-2 at No.
2. The Bruins captured the No. 3 match as Scott Barnett and
Nolan Staples teamed up for an 8-5 win over
Garrett Vincent and Cameron Thompson.
The Bruins picked up singles wins at the top and the bottom of
the order, Mann nipping Baumgartner 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 at No. 1, and
Staples stopping Zach Hutchinson 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6. The
Bearcats took the rest as Wong beat Barnett 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2;
Ferguson dropped McClain 6-2, 6-1 at No.2; Houser split with
Jackson before prevailing 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) in a tiebreaker at
No. 4; and Vincent was victorious over Brown 6-4, 7-5 at No. 5.
“To come so close to the conference tournament and not
make it is a bit disappointing,” admitted George Fox coach
Neal Ninteman, “but as I told our team, to win the race,
you've got to first be in the race. We hadn't
even been in the race for the tournament for a while, and I
couldn't be prouder of how far these guys have brought the
program this year. With such a young team (the Bruins have no
seniors), we have a bright future and a lot to look forward to next
year.”
