SALEM, Ore. – Trailing
2-1 after the opening round of doubles, the visiting George Fox
University Bruins won the last five singles matches to defeat the
Willamette University Bearcats 6-3 in a contest of Northwest
Conference men's tennis teams that were ranked in the NCAA
Division III West Region's pre-season ratings Friday here at
the Courthouse Tennis Center.
George Fox, now 5-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference, was the
No. 11 team in the West as the spring season began, according to
the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's rating system.
Willamette, which fell to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the NWC, was No.
19.
Justin McClain and Peter Brown
gave the Bruins their only win in doubles, taking the No. 2 match
from the Bearcats's Will Cooper and Devin Abney handily
8-2. Willamette prevailed in the other two tight tilts,
however, winning 8-6 at No. 1 as Joshua Wong and Sam Wexman edged
Shawn Aldrich and Chris Lilley, and 9-8 (8-6) at No. 3 with Mathew
Dees and Gunnar Lee topping Preston Mann and Andy Tweet.
Wong won over McClain 6-3, 6-4 to give the Bearcats the No. 1
singles, but the rest of the match belonged to the Bruins, although
twice they had to bounce back after dropping opening sets.
The straight-set winners were Lilley over Cooper 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3,
Mann over Abney 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4, and Drew Milton over Dees 6-3,
6-4 at No. 5.
With the match still hanging in the balance, Aldrich defeated
Wexman 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2, and Brown overcame Jack Schreiber
3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to give the Bruins the victory.
NEXT: George Fox visits Pacific University, the
No. 12 team in the West Region, in Forest Grove, Ore., Saturday for
a 2:00 p.m. match ... Willamette goes to Linfield College Saturday
at 1:00 p.m.
