Boxscore
by Jimmy Chau
PORTLAND, OR.-
Another strong individual performance goes to waste as Pacific locks up a playoff spot with a victory and a Linfield loss. One of the surprise teams of the Northwest Conference tennis season, the Boxers will head into next week's championship playoffs as the number four seed.
Doubles play was a one sided affair in the #2 and #3 flights as the Boxers cruised to 8-1 and 8-3 victories respectively. Michael Okada and Patrick Kinghorn scored first for the home team with their win over Kerry White and Cole Pfeiffer. Hector Alcayde and Kolin Wong followed suit soon after with their victory over Sam Franer and Gabriel Trepanier. The best match of the day came at the number one doubles flight where Troy Zaroske and Spencer Hing stormed back to take the match against George Allen and Quinn Roth-Carter after they were down 5-2. The Pioneers played text book doubles for a great portion of the match until the Boxers isolated Allen and kept him from taking over. Some missed volleys and passing shots doomed the Pios as Zaroske and Hing would win 8-6.
A usually very spirited Allen looked listless and tired in a match where he couldn't get his game going. The senior, who the Pioneers have come to count on for inspiration couldn't find his rhythm today and lost 6-1, 6-3 to Zaroske. Roth-Carter started to get some momentum going in the second set of his match but lost to Alen Suklje 6-1, 6-4. Other matches on the day went fairly convincingly for the Boxers. Seniors Nhat Nguyen and Jeffrey Lee closed out their careers with wins at the #5 and #6 singles slots. The lone point of the day for the Pioneers was earned by Kerry White playing in the number four flight against Jose Reque-Martinez. In a match loaded with more errors than winners, it was White who was the most steady when it mattered most. Dropping the first set 6-1, White composed himself and was determined to get back into the match. Hitting just as aggressively but with fewer unforced errors, the Pioneer battled back to take the second set 6-2. Reque-Martinez would jump out to an early lead in the match breaker, but White would battle back to tie it up eight a piece. With victory so close for both players, the best point of the night would go to White in front of the large crowd that had gathered for senior night in Forest Grove. A sailing forehand by the Boxer would give White his first win of the season.
The Pioneers travel home to take on the same Boxers on Saturday April 9th at 11 am.
