PORTLAND, Ore.—Eight Lewis & Clark College men's tennis players posted victories on Saturday in the team's 6-1 win over visiting University of Puget.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 6, Puget Sound 1
(Lewis & Clark 8-2, Northwest Conference 5-1)
(Puget Sound 1-5, NWC 1-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Juniors
Wade McDermott and
Kai Wills each went 2-0 to help Lewis & Clark improve to 5-1 in conference play ahead of a huge home weekend against the Whits.
The Pioneers swept the doubles to jump out to a 1-0 advantage.
At number one doubles, McDermott and Wills made quick work of Jason Rowe and Will Church in a 6-1 win. The Pioneers' second doubles pair of sophomores
Joey Lyon and
Noah Sutin demolished Trent Beckman and Tyler Blixt 6-2. First year
Arnav Bishnoi and junior
Spencer Loucks teamed up for a 6-3 win at number three doubles over Vincent Unpingco and Sebastian Silverstein.
Puget Sound managed to tie the match to begin singles. Rowe defeated Sutin 6-4, 6-0 at number one singles to even the match at 1-1.
McDermott started a run of five-straight singles wins when he knocked off Church 6-2, 6-0 at second singles.
Wills extended the advantage to 3-1 at third singles. He cruised past Beckman 6-1, 6-2.
Bishnoi secured the team win at fourth singles. The first year claimed a 6-3, 6-0 win over Blixt.
Sophomore
Max Furman made his first appearance of the match at fifth singles. He earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over Conor Blakeney.
In the final match to finish of the day, senior
Bennett Gazor secured a three-set win over Matthew Merzbach at sixth singles. Gazor took the first set 6-2, but Merzbach responded with a second-set win (6-3). The two played a super tiebreaker at third singles and Gazor earned the win 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9).
After the match, Lewis & Clark hosted a number of alumni for their annual alumni match.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Pioneers earned their 16th-straight win over the Loggers dating back to 2013.
- Lewis & Clark (8-2) is off to their best 10-match start to the season since they opened the 2016-17 season 9-1. The 2016-17 team went 14-5 and reached the NWC Championship Match.
- Bishnoi and Lyon are tied the team lead with four singles wins (4-0) in six conference matches.
- Furman has played in two NWC Singles matches this year and posted identical 6-0, 6-1 wins.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will host Whitworth University (Saturday at 11 a.m.) and Whitman College (Sunday at 11 a.m.). Whitworth was picked to finish fifth in the NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll and Whitman was picked as the preseason favorites.
