Boxscore
by Jimmy Chau
PORTLAND, OR.-
The Pioneers were down all day long to the Pacific Boxers in their Northwest Conference match until the very last contest where Amalia Nilsson would play one of the most meaningful matches of her career.
Rachel Mizuno and Stephanie Velligas would be the first to put the Pioneers behind the eight ball when they jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and cruised to an 8-4 win over Whitney DeBree and Jill Coleman at the number two doubles flight. Keeping the Pioneers close and in the match, the #1 doubles pair would come up with their best all around performance in a victory over one of the toughest doubles teams in the conference in Cat Goya and Megan Yoshimoto. Nilsson and Izzy Borris came out on top 8-5 and watched in anticipation as their teammates battled in the #3 slot. Kelsey Trujillo was the best player on the court in a match that featured back and forth action all the way into a tiebreaker where the Boxers would secure a 2-1 match lead after a 9-8 (6) win.
Determined to not let this one get away, the Pioneers would battle valiantly in the face of adversity all day long. Yoshimoto would widen the gap with a 6-0, 6-4 win over DeBree but the Pioneers' spirits were not deflated for long as Borris would come back with an impressive 6-2, 6-0 victory herself. Still hot from her doubles play, Trujillo would put the Boxers up by two matches again with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Coleman. All of a sudden, the Boxers were one point away from clinching the match with three flights still to be decided. With a first team all-conference player and two saavy seniors playing for the Boxers, a win for the Pioneers seemed to be as hard to see as the ball under the covered courts in Forest Grove. Determined though, the two freshman who anchor the bottom of the lineup would step up and answer the call. First to draw the Pios closer was Makena McCluskey, with a 6-1, 6-3 win in a match that was much closer than the score would indicate. Both Nilsson and Olivia Sweetman would take their first sets by a score of 6-4 to begin the rally. Fighting just as hard though were their Boxers who came back to tie up both matches at a set a piece with 6-4 set wins of their own. The first three setter to finish came in the number five singles slot as Sweetman would draw on her shot making abilities to win and set the stage for Nilsson to bring it home for the Pioneers. Nilsson, a senior who usually wraps up her matches way before the dual match gets decided, was in new territory as the match result rested squarely on her shoulders. Up 3-2 in the third set and knowing that the Pioneers had a chance to finish one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory, Nilssen kicked it into high gear as she really focused on cutting down her unforced errors and made a conscious effort to hit even bigger at the right times. She would go on to take the next three games, only giving up a couple points, to seal the team victory and finish one of the most memorable comebacks in Pioneer tennis history.
The Pioneers take on the same Boxers on Sunday at 12 noon at the LC Tennis Dome.
