Lukas Kleinman Nipped in second-set tiebreaker
Linfield College Team Page
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Turning back Linfield at every opportunity, the Pacific Boxers rolled to an impressive 9-0 victory over their Northwest Conference counterparts Friday afternoon at the Linfield Tennis Center.
The Boxers evened their season and conference record at 2-2 while the Wildcats remained winless at 0-5, all against NWC foes.
“Today felt like a missed opportunity,” said Wildcats coach Carl Swanson. “We did not play good doubles and we really didn’t challenge this team in any significant way in the singles lineup. We’re too content to exchange points and look competitive, we need to close out opponents and actually be competitive in a winning fashion.”
The results bore witness to Swanson’s remarks as the Boxers began the afternoon with a dominating performance in doubles before sweeping the Wildcats in straight sets in the six singles pairings.
Linfield’s No. 1 doubles tandem, Zachery Lyons (Sr., Vancouver, Wash.) and Micah Roos (Soph., Port Angeles, Wash.), were bounced 8-3 by the Pacific duo of Troy Zuroske and Giancario Battaglia. The Boxers’ Brian Kyaw and Lorne Bulling produced an 8-2 decision over Joel Trousdale (Soph., Hillsboro, Ore.) and Lukas Kleinman (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.) at No. 2, while Alen Sukje and David Yanagita handed the Wildcats’ Alex Mangan (Fr., Klamath Falls, Ore.) and Tim Hawkins (Fr., Boise, Idaho) an 8-1 setback at No. 3.
Once the match turned to singles play, the closest outcome came at the fifth flight, where Linfield’s Lukas Kleinman (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.) battled into a tiebreaker in the second set before falling 6-4, 7-5 (12-10).
Trousdale went extra points in his first set at No. 3 before Brandon Schlack pulled away fro a 7-5, 6-1 result.
In other singles play, Zuroske knocked off Lyons 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1, and Battaglia defeated Roos 6-0, 6-3 at No. 2. Yanagita got past Ben Brewer (Soph., Lake Oswego, Ore.) 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4, while Kyaw served up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mangan at No. 6.
COMING UP: Linfield hosts the Willamette Bearcats Saturday afternoon in a 1 o’clock match at the Linfield Tennis Center.
