TUALATIN, Ore. – Setting new school
records for the most wins in a season and the most conference wins
in a season, the George Fox University Bruins defeated the Pacific
University Boxers 7-2 in a battle of Northwest Conference
regionally-ranked men's tennis teams Friday evening here at
the Stafford Hills Fitness and Tennis Club.
With their second victory of the season over the Boxers, George
Fox, ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III West Region, improved to
12-4 on the season, breaking the record of 11 wins set by last
year's club during an 11-8 campaign. They also improved
to 10-1 in the conference with one match remaining, topping last
year's 9-3 NWC slate. Whitman College leads the NWC
with a 9-0 league record, while Pacific Lutheran University, a 5-4
winner Friday over Whitworth, is right behind the Bruins in third
place at 9-1. Pacific, the 15th-ranked team in the West, fell
to 5-10 overall and 4-8 in the conference.
Preston Mann and Drew Milton gave the Bruins a
quick lead to start the match with an 8-3 win over the
Boxers' Brandon Schlack and David Yanagita 8-3 at No. 3
doubles, but the Boxers evened it as Troy Zuroske and Lorne Bulling
took an 8-4 win over Justin McClain and Shawn Aldrich at No.
1. George Fox regained the lead heading into the singles when
Chris Lilley and Peter Brown hung on for an 8-6 win over Alen
Suklje and Kolin Wong at No. 3 doubles.
Lilley put the Bruins up 3-1 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Suklje at
No. 2 singles, and Aldrich followed right after with a 6-3, 6-1 win
over Schlack at No. 3. The clinching match was won by
Mann over Bulling 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4, with Mann rallying all the way
back from a 1-5 deficit in games and a love-30 hole in the seventh
game of the second set.
Zuroske gave Pacific its only singles win as he overcame McClain
at No. 1 by a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-0 (10-2) count. The Bruins
closed out the win by taking the No. 5 and No. 6 singles in
straight sets, Milton defeating Wong 6-2, 6-2, and Brown dropping
Brian Kyaw 6-1, 6-1.
NEXT: George Fox closes out the regular season
and can nail down the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Northwest
Conference Tournament Sunday at home against Willamette University
at 3:00 p.m. In case of rain, the match will be moved to the
Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton, Ore., also at 3:00 p.m.
... Pacific's season has ended.
