Wednesday, 04/10/2013

McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Bolstered by a clean sweep in singles action, Lewis & Clark earned its second victory over Linfield this season in dominating fashion, defeating the Wildcats 8-1 Friday afternoon at the Linfield Tennis Center.

Kaila Nip (Soph., Lahaina, Hawaii) and Kelly Watanabe (Soph., Kirkland, Wash.) teamed for Linfield’s sole point of the afternoon, notching an 8-4 victory over Lisa Osepyan and Isabelle Borris at No. 3 doubles.

Otherwise, it was all Pioneers, who improved to 10-1 in the Northwest Conference and 14-3 overall. The Wildcats, meanwhile, slipped to 5-5 against league foes and 6-9 overall.

Olivia Cornell and Claudia Lew opened the match with their win at No. 2 doubles, downing Gretchen Jernstedt (Soph., Wilsonville, Ore.) and Lexi Thomas (Sr., Redding, Calif.) by a score of 8-1. Aurora Garrison and Gillian Lowe gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage going into singles play with an 8-4 triumph over Caroline Brigham (Jr., Eagle, Idaho) and Kwynn Ecton (Fr., Fort Collins, Colo.) in the top flight.

Lew topped Nip 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and Cornell followed up with a come-from-behind 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in the second flight. Lowe downed Ecton 6-1, 2-0 at No. 4 singles and Garrison outlasted Brigham 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5). Osepyan handled Watanabe 7-5, 6-3 and Borris turned away Jernstedt 6-4, 6-4 at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, respectively, to complete the clean sweep of the one-on-one matches.

NEXT: Linfield heads up the I-5 corridor for its final regular-season road match of the year. The Wildcats face Pacific Lutheran Saturday in Tacoma, beginning at 1 p.m.