Boxscore
by Jimmy Chau
PORTLAND, OR.-
In the second of the series played this week against George Fox, the Pioneers play without their top lineup yet manage to beat the visitors by an even wider margin 8-1.
Doubles action played out the same as in the first meeting where the teams split the two contested matches. George Fox actually got on the board first with an 8-4 win as Alyssa Emoto and Shaina Inn would continue their mastery over Jill Coleman and Olivia Sweetman. Amalia Nilsson and Izzy Borris teamed up to take out a determined Molly Beaumont and Cara Griffith 8-3 in their rematch from just days ago.
The story of the day though would happen in the singles flights. Makena McCluskey was the first to come up with a gutsy and inspired performance. Having lost to Liliya Abildayeva in three punishing sets in their previous meeting, McCluskey would play the most complete match of her young career. Taking chances and playing more aggressively seemed to change the whole complexion of the rematch, as the freshman turned in a 6-2, 6-1 performance. Nilsson would play her most dominating match of the year in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alyssa Emoto. As impressive as that victory was, Borris would find her game and come up with one of the biggest wins of her career. Taking on Beaumont who has played #1 for most of the year, Borris stepped up to the challenge with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) win that seemed to give her validation and the confidence to finish the year strong. Jill Coleman played very heady tennis to close out her otherwise close match in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shaina Inn. Olivia Sweetman finished the day's matches with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
It was a great performance by the ladies today as they could have easily relaxed and played poorly knowing they had already beaten the Bruins. Having several players play higher than normal made the win even that much better.
The Pioneers play the Pacific Boxers in Forest Grove at 10 am on April 9th.
