PORTLAND, Ore. -- Trailing 9-2 in the third set tiebreaker, Brenden Barrows fought off seven match points against Pacific's Josh Bernstein to win 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (11-9) and help the Pioneers to one of their three singles wins in a 6-3 dual loss to the Boxers on Sunday afternoon.
The sophomore claimed the No. 6 singles match, and was one of three, third set tiebreaker winners for Lewis & Clark at the L&C Tennis Dome. In the No. 3 position, Kevin Ross (4-1) played to a 13-11 win in his tiebreaker against Oscar Wight, winning the match 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11). Harrison Collins defeated Chris Dalton 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5) to claim the No. 5 singles pairing.
"The team was like 'an epic comeback would be great here, let's make it happen,' and it did, and it was awesome," said Collins about Brenden Barrows' match. "I didn't know what to expect, and Brenden came out with the goods in the end."
Brenden Barrows is now 5-2 in singles this spring, while Collins improved to 6-2 this season. His six victories are the most singles victories for the Pioneers this season, including 3-1 in fifth position.
"[My match] was similarly theatrical because I had a little bit of a turbulent first set, but I believed I was doing well and that I could win if I stuck to my game," said Collins.
"We came out flat in doubles and that kind of dictated the rest of the match," said Lewis & Clark head coach Patrick Dreves. "We fought like crazy in singles and ended up splitting with these guys, but Pacific is just too good of a team to come out and go down by three."
Pacific leads the Northwest Conference by a half-game over Whitman, as both teams are undefeated. Lewis & Clark, which lost its first NWC dual in its last three outings, is tied in the overall standings for fourth place with George Fox at 3-2.
Nationally-ranked Brennan Faith won the top singles match against Lewis & Clark's Gordon Barrows, 7-5, 6-4. Faith paired with Clark Winiger to defeat Gordon Barrows and Brenden Barrows 8-5 in the No. 1 doubles match. The Barrowses are now 4-4 this season.
Michael Brewer (2-2) fell in the No. 2 singles position for the Pios, 6-0, 6-1, to Wininger. Daniel Hahm (4-4) lost in the fourth position to Reuben Mulhern. Hahm took the first set 6-4, but Mulhern won the next two, 6-3, 7-5.
After building a 6-5 lead, Hahm and Collins (1-1) lost the No. 3 doubles match-up, 8-6, to Mulhern and Bernstein. Raed Attia (pictured right) paired with Ross and fell to 3-2 this season after an 8-3 loss to Wight and Dalton in the second spot.
Prior to Sunday, Pacific had won four of its six NWC duals without giving up a match, winning the other two 8-1 and 7-2.
"It was a tough day for us, but this team is consistently getting better and we're still building. The fact that we managed to scrap out three wins is a testament to our toughness in the end," said Collins.
Three of the Pios' next four matches are against nationally-ranked teams, all of which will be in California over spring break, Mar. 21-27.
"We have a great spring break schedule, some really tough teams," said Dreves. "Hopefully that will prepare us for the second half of the season."
Following the spring break trip, Lewis & Clark hosts Whitman and Whitworth on Apr. 2-3 before playing five straight on the road to close the NWC schedule.
Other Northwest Conference Scores - Sunday
Whitworth 9, Willamette 0
Whitman 9, Linfield 0
George Fox 9, Pacific Lutheran 0
