March 6, 2009

Lutes Pull Out Another Narrow 5-4 Victory

Box Score

SALEM, Ore . - For the second straight match, Pacific Lutheran won a squeaker, this time defeating host Willamette, 5-4, in a Northwest Conference men's tennis match played Friday night at Courthouse Tennis Club.

As with last Saturday's narrow 5-4 win over Whitworth, the Lutes fell behind in doubles action and had to rally for the win in singles play.

Willamette picked up two points in doubles with wins from Cody Ferguson and Micah Mack at No. 1 and Andrew Murkami and Matthew Houser at No. 2. Chris Dew and Kevin Floyd picked up what proved to be a crucial victory for PLU at No. 3 doubles, defeating Michael Moore and Jordan Helvie, 8-5.

Needing at least four wins in the six singles matches, the Lutes managed exactly that amount. Joel Trudel went the distance, beating Murakami in three sets, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. The Bearcats got wins from Ferguson at No. 2 and from Houser at No. 3 to get to the brink of pulling the upset, but the Lutes rallied for wins in the bottom three singles matches. James Crosetto picked up a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alex Sepanzis at No. 4, Zack AhYat took a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Mack at No. 5, and Justin Peterson notched a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Moore at No. 6.

With the win, the Lutes improved their overall record to 7-3 and their conference mark to 7-2, while Willamette dropped to 4-2 in both categories.

The Lutes return to action on Saturday, March 14, when they host Linfield and George Fox in conference matches.

- PLU -