PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark men's tennis secured the doubles point and added a singles victory before falling 5-2 to Whitman College in Northwest Conference action Sunday morning at the L&C Tennis Dome. The Blues spoiled the Pioneer's Orange Out match and remained undefeated in conference play midway through the season.
THE BASICS
Whitman 5, Lewis & Clark 2
(Lewis & Clark 9-3, 6-2 NWC)
(Whitman 7-3, 7-0 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior
Wade McDermott led the Pioneers with a 2-0 record on the day after a hard-fought three-set victory in singles play. Lewis & Clark also secured the doubles point with wins at the top two positions.
The Pioneers started strong in doubles competition. The sophomore duo of
Joey Lyon and
Noah Sutin captured a 6-3 victory at second doubles against Whitman's Artem Manov and Charles Rush. Senior
Matt Chio and junior
Spencer Loucks dropped a close 6-4 match at No. 3 doubles to Lucas Huang and Cameron Yang, leveling the score. Lewis & Clark clinched the doubles point when McDermott and junior
Kai Wills defeated Noah Baker and Alexander Stage 6-4 at the top spot.
In singles play, Whitman quickly gained momentum. Stage defeated Sutin 6-2, 6-0 at first singles, followed by Huang's 6-1, 6-3 victory over Chio at No. 3. Lyon played a competitive match at second singles but fell 7-5, 7-5 to Yang.
McDermott and Manov played the second of three close singles matches on Sunday afternoon in the fourth singles flight. The Pioneers' junior took the first set 6-1 before Manov evened it with a 6-4 win in the second. McDermott secured his second win of the day with a 6-3 third-set victory, cutting Lewis & Clark's deficit to 3-2.
At No. 6 singles, first-year
Arnav Bishnoi fell 6-3, 6-2 to Braeden Thomas, giving the Blues the decisive fourth point to clinch the match.
In the day's final match, Wills came from behind in the No. 5 match to force a third set against Alejandro Raffo, winning the second 7-5 after dropping the first 6-2. Raffo secured a 6-2 win in the third set to seal Whitman's 5-2 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- McDermott (21) and Lyon (20) are the first Pioneers to reach 20 or more total wins this season.
- In a doubles exhibition match, sophomore Bridger Galyardt and senior Bennett Gazor defeated Diego Guzman and Hanri Luo 6-4.
- First-year Charlie Kowatch earned an 8-2 singles exhibition win over Luo.
- Sophomore Max Furman dropped a close 8-6 exhibition match to Charles Boyden.
- McDermott was the lone Pioneer to go 4-0 on the weekend.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark travels to Pacific University on Sunday for an 11 a.m. match in Forest Grove to start the second half of NWC play.
