PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College men's tennis earned their first point against four-time Northwest Conference defending champion and nationally ranked #31 George Fox University in an 8-1 NWC opening defeat on Saturday.
THE BASICS
#31 George Fox 8, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 5-3, 0-1 NWC)
(George Fox 2-2, 1-0 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman
Joey Lyon and sophomore
Wade McDermott earned the Pioneers' first point in dual play since May 2021 and the first doubles point in a regular season meeting since March 2018 against the Bruins with an 8-7 (2) win over Vahag Pashayan and Lars Schmassmann in the number one doubles match.
George Fox won the first two doubles points in the NWC dual. Sophomore
Kai Wills and freshman
Noah Sutin fell to Hunter Fujimori and Eli Mizerski 8-2 in the second doubles flight to start the day.
Junior
Matt Chio and sophomore
Landon Cronin took on Zach Moore and Ikuho Ebisu in the third doubles match, falling 8-3.
The Pioneers faced three ITA Division III nationally-ranked male players in singles play against George Fox.
Sutin took on #12 Mizerski in the first singles flight, falling 6-3, 6-1.
The Bruins pulled within a point of securing the match at after Lyon fell 6-4, 6-0 to Schmassmann at number four singles.
At second singles, #42 Pashayan defeated Wills 6-4, 6-1 to take the 5-1 lead and secure the win.
Chio took on the final nationally ranked player in the third singles flight, falling to #40 Fujimori 6-2, 6-4.
McDermott played a close first set with Jackson Whittaker before losing 7-5, 6-1 at number five singles.
Cronin played the most competitive singles match of the day at the sixth flight, pushing River Apatu to a tiebreaker in the first set before dropping the match 7-6 (4), 6-3.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The last time Lewis & Clark won doubles points against George Fox in the regular season, assistant coaches Gordon Barrows, Brendan Barrows, and Pim Trouerbach were all student-athletes for the Pioneers.
- Lyon and McDermott move to 5-3 at number one doubles during the spring season.
- George Fox is the second nationally ranked team the Pioneers have played this season after taking on #5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, but the first time they have played against nationally ranked singles players this spring.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark travels to Salem to take on Willamette in a NWC match that is scheduled for 11:00 a.m on Sunday. The Pioneers defeated the Bearcats at home a week ago 8-1 in a non-conference match.
