Saturday, 02/16/2013

PARKLAND, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran took the early upper hand and never relented during an 8-1 season-opening victory over Northwest Conference rival Linfield Friday night at Sprinker Tennis Center.

Linfield’s lone point in the match came at No. 2 singles, where Micah Roos (Soph., Port Angeles, Wash.) outdueled PLU’s Sam Angel 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Roos and doubles partner Zach Lyons (Sr., Vancouver, Wash.) also waged a tight battle in the top doubles flight, only to fall 9-8 (7-3).

The Wildcats also dropped an 8-4 decision at No. 2 doubles, where the PLU duo of Jason Bower and Taylor Dickey edged Linfield’s Joel Trousdale (Soph., Hillsboro, Ore.) and Lukas Kleinman (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.). In the third pairing, brothers Mitch Yannello and Jake Yannello prevailed over the Wildcats’ newest tandem, Tim Hawkins (Fr., Boise, Idaho) and Alex Mangan (Fr., Klamath Falls, Ore.), 8-3.

In singles action, Lyons was locked in a tense battle at No. 1 before ultimately falling 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to Bower. Luke Olson downed Trousdale 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 while Dickey swept past Kleinman, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4. Mitch Yannello handled Hawkins with relative ease at No. 5, 6-1, 6-0, and Jake Yannello blanked Mangan 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6.

"From the fall through to the spring, I see progress in our team development," said Wildcats coach Carl Swanson. "We need to continue on that pathway.  Micah and Zach set a good example today playing with poise, confidence, and character."

NEXT: Linfield makes its home debut Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Wildcats host Lewis & Clark in another NWC match.