Feb. 9, 2007

Lutes Sweep Puget Sound, Linfield in Men’s Tennis

A long weekend of action for the Pacific Lutheran men’s tennis team started out on a good note when the Lutes swept Puget Sound and Linfield at the PLU/UPS Invitational held Friday at the UPS Tennis Pavilion.

With the wins, Pacific Lutheran improves to 2-1 overall and to 2-0 in the Northwest Conference standings.

The host schools opened the tournament and it was Pacific Lutheran that rolled to a 9-0 decision over the Loggers. The Lutes, who held out No. 1 David Miller and No. 4 Justin Larimore, still had a relatively easy time in defeating Puget Sound.

In doubles, PLU’s top team of Miller and Larimore picked up an easy 8-2 victory. Loranger and Peterson combined for an 8-6 win, and Vidano and Floyd came out on top, 8-2, at No. 3 doubles.

With PLU holding a 3-0 lead after doubles, the Lutes swept all six singles matches. Kevin Floyd, a freshman from Grandview, moved up to No. 1 and won his match in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2. Also winning in straight sets were Jeff Loranger at No. 2 singles, John deMars at No. 5, and James Crosetto at No. 6. Justin Peterson and Jared Vidano both won their singles matches in three sets.

In a match played at noon, Pacific Lutheran defeated Linfield, 5-4. The Lutes secured the necessary team points for a 5-2 win, and the final two singles matches were decided in a third-set super tiebreaker.

Miller and Larimore improved their doubles record to 3-0 with an 8-3 victory over Wes Gabrielson and Kyle Anderson, but the Wildcats won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

The Lutes responded by winning the first four singles matches. Miller improved his singles record to 2-0 with an easy 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ian McGrath at No. 1 singles, and Kevin Lloyd added a 6-2, 6-3 win over Cole Shelton at No. 2 singles. Loranger and Larimore also picked up straight set wins to give the Lutes the necessary points for the team victory.

The Lutes play twice on Saturday, going up against Northwest Conference rival Whitman at 8 a.m., then facing NCAA Division III national power UC Santa Cruz at 4 p.m. All of the invitational matches will be played at the UPS Tennis Pavilion.

Pacific Lutheran 9, Puget Sound 0

Doubles:
David Miller Miller-Justin Larimore, PLU d. Amland-Hosmer, 8-2
Jeff Loranger-Justin Peterson, PLU d. McCullugh-Oates, 8-6
Jared Vidano-Kevin Floyd, PLU d. Neal-Sato, 8-2

Singles:
Floyd, PLU d. Neal, 7-6, 6-2
Loranger, PLU d. Amlund, 6-1, 6-1
Peterson, PLU d. McCullugh, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Vidano, PLU d. Hosmer, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6
John deMars, PLU d. Sato, 6-2, 7-5
James Crosetto, PLU d. Taylor, 6-2, 6-3

Pacific Lutheran 5, Linfield 4

Doubles:
David Miller-Justin Larimore, PLU, def. Wes Gabrielson-Kyle Anderson, 8-3
Ian McGrath-Jon Roberts, Lin, def. Jeff Loranger-Justin Peterson, 8-6
Nick Ruess-Minice, Lin, def. Kevin Floyd-Jared Vidano, 9-7

Singles:
Miller, PLU, def. McGrath, 6-2, 6-0
Floyd, PLU, def. Cole Shelton, 6-2, 6-3
Loranger, PLU, def. Roberts, 6-4, 6-2
Larimore, PLU, def. Gabrielson, 6-2, 6-0
Anderson, Lin, def. Peterson, 6-3, 3-6, 10-5
Ruess, Lin, def. Vidano, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7

- PLU -