McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Lewis & Clark College men's tennis defeated Linfield University 4-3 in Northwest Conference play on Sunday at the Linfield Tennis Center.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 4, Linfield 3
Lewis & Clark (4-7, 4-3 NWC)
Linfield (3-7, 3-4 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
First-year
Kaden Sigurdsson and senior
Spencer Loucks each went 2-0 to lead the River Otters past the Wildcats.
Lewis & Clark won the doubles point with victories at Nos. 2 and 3. Linfield's Brooks Lerfald and Zac Nakajima earned the first result of the round with a 6-2 win over junior
Noah Sutin and senior
Kai Wills at No. 1. Sophomore
Arnav Bishnoi and senior
Wade McDermott evened the round with a 6-3 victory over Nick Owens and Alexander Rosenquist at No. 3. Loucks and Sigurdsson clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Joey Henderson and Cameron Paulsen at No. 2.
Leading 1-0 entering singles play, Lewis & Clark extended its lead at No. 2. Sutin defeated Nakajima 6-3, 6-3 for the first singles result of the afternoon. Linfield responded at No. 3, where Paulsen won a three-set match over Wills, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Sigurdsson followed with a three-set win of his own at No. 1, defeating Lerfald 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to push Lewis & Clark ahead 3-1.
Linfield pulled within 3-2 when Rosenquist defeated Bishnoi 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4. The Wildcats tied the match at 3-3 after Henderson posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over McDermott at No. 5.
Loucks secured the team victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Gavin Orozco at No. 6 to complete the 4-3 final.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Since 2012, the River Otters have won 22 straight matches against the Wildcats.
- Sigurdsson and Loucks improved 4-1 in NWC play as a team.
- Sutin improved to 6-1 in NWC singles matches at the halfway point of conference play.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark travels to NCAA Division I Portland State University for an exhibition match on Friday at 9 a.m. before hosting George Fox University at 10 a.m. on Saturday in a Northwest Conference match at the L&C Tennis Dome.
