WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Sophomores
Joey Lyon and
Noah Sutin set a new program record with their 11th Northwest Conference doubles win of the season on Sunday, helping Lewis & Clark College men's tennis claim the doubles point for the 13th time in 18 matches. However, the Pioneers fell 5-2 to host Whitman College in their regular-season finale.
THE BASICS
Whitman 5, Lewis & Clark 2
(Lewis & Clark 13-5, 10-4 NWC)
(Whitman 15-12, 13-1 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lyon and Sutin opened the day with a 6-3 victory over Alexander Stage and Noah Baker at first doubles, breaking the program record for most NWC doubles wins in a season by a pair.
Juniors
Wade McDermott and
Kai Wills clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 2 over Diego Guzman and Charles Rush. Whitman's Cameron Yang and Lucas Huang edged senior
Matt Chio and junior
Spencer Loucks 7-6 (5) at third doubles to avoid a sweep, but the Pioneers entered singles play with a 1-0 lead.
The Blues quickly shifted momentum in singles. Stage bounced back to defeat Lyon 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1. Sutin briefly restored the lead for the Pioneers with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Yang at No. 2, finishing the day 2-0.
Whitman responded by winning the remaining four singles matches. Huang defeated McDermott 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3, and Braeden Thomas clinched the team win with a 6-3, 6-1 result over first-year
Arnav Bishnoi at No. 5.
Alejandro Raffo added a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Wills at No. 6, and Artem Manov edged Chio 7-5, 7-5 in the final match at No. 4.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In doubles exhibition matches, junior Landon Cronin and sophomore Bridger Galyardt defeated Manov and Raffo 6-3. Sophomore Max Furman and first-year Charlie Kowatch beat Thomas and Luca Viarengo 6-2.
- In singles exhibitions, Cronin defeated Charles Boyden 8-4, while Kowatch fell 8-1 to Chris O'Farrill.
- The Pioneers will make their 10th consecutive appearance in the Northwest Conference Tournament after finishing tied for the second-most overall and conference wins in that span.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark returns to Walla Walla next weekend as the No. 3 seed in the NWC Tournament. The Pioneers will face No. 2 seed George Fox on Saturday, with the match set to begin no earlier than 4 p.m.