SALEM, Ore. – Almost two
weeks removed from their last contest, the visiting George Fox
University Bruins made a successful return to the tennis courts
with a 6-3 triumph over the Willamette University Bearcats in a
Northwest Conference men's match Friday afternoon here at The
Courthouse Tennis Center's indoor facilities.
Continuing their solid push toward making the NWC Tournament for
the first time since it went to only a four-team format, the Bruins
were powered by the lower half of their order in this battle as
they posted victories in the last two doubles and the bottom four
singles.
Willamette picked up its doubles win at No. 1 as Joshua Wong and
Cody Ferguson took an 8-3 decision over George Fox's Preston
Mann and Shawn Aldrich. The Bruins bounced back, however,
with Peter Brown and Justin McClain taking an 8-3 win over Will
Cooper and Cameron Thompson at No. 2, and Drew Milton and David
Munoz downing Garrett Vincent and Jack Schreiber 8-0 at No. 3.
Wong topped Mann 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles and Ferguson stopped
Aldrich 5-1, 6-2 at No. 2 before the rest of the Bruins stepped up
to turn the match their way. McClain was victorious over
Vincent 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3; Milton clipped Cooper 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4;
Munoz posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Will Agnew-Svoboda at No. 5; and
Andy Tweet finished off the match with a 6-2, 6-2
win over Jack Schreiber.
“With a convincing win today, we solidified our
third-place standing in the conference,” said Bruins coach
Neal Ninteman. “We were a little weakened in the top of
our order today because Shawn Aldrich was not feeling well - he was
about as sick as I've seen anyone who managed to play - and
our lower guys came through big time. Andy Tweet really
stepped in at No. 6 and won a huge match that put us over the
top.”
George Fox, which is No. 12 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis
Association's NCAA Division III West Region rankings, evened
its season record at 7-7 and improved to 6-3 in the
conference. Willamette fell to 3-9 overall and 3-5 in league
play with its eighth straight setback.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Pacific Lutheran
University next Friday in another conference contest at 2:00 p.m.
... Willamette visits Pacific Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. NWC
match.
