NEWBERG, Ore. – Handing Whitworth University its first loss in their Northwest Conference men's tennis series since 1998, the George Fox University Bruins won the three opening doubles matches for a rousing start that propelled them to a 7-2 victory over the visiting Pirates on a rare sunny Friday afternoon here at the GFU campus courts.

Preston Mann and Shawn Aldrich got the Bruins going with an 8-4 win over the Pirates' Daniel Redfern and Cameron Williams at No. 1 doubles.  Following in order were Peter Brown and Justin McClain over Micah Spaun and Stefan Dernbach 8-3 at No. 2, and Drew Milton and David Munoz over John Talbot and Matt Gobel 8-3 at No. 3.

Redfern defeated Mann 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and Ben Hamming downed Brown 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6, but the Bruins captured the four middle singles to take the match.  Aldrich ousted Williams 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2, McClain edged Spaun 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3, Milton did the same to Talbot 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4, and Munoz nipped Dernbach 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) at No. 5.

The win was the Bruins' first over the Pirates since April 4, 1998, a 4-3 victory in Spokane, Wash., and snapped a string of 22 consecutive wins by Whitworth over George Fox.  It was only their second win ever over Whitworth since the men's tennis program at George Fox was started in 1996, and the first ever for the Bruins over the Pirates in Newberg.   

NEXT: George Fox (5-5, NWC 4-1) hosts the Whitman College Missionaries (7-3, NWC 3-0), who are eighth nationally in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's March 1 rankings, Saturday in a match that has been moved to the Club Green Meadows' indoor courts in Vancouver, Wash., at 11:30 a.m. due to a 60% chance of rain ... Whitworth (3-4, NWC 2-2) visits Lewis & Clark College Saturday at 10:00 a.m.