March 15, 2007

MEN'S TENNIS: Lutes Hit the Road; Miller Wins NWC Honor

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran plays two split squad doubleheaders in Oregon on Saturday, March 17. Part of the team will play two matches against Pacific in Forest Grove, and another PLU squad will play two matches against Lewis & Clark in Portland. The first match of each doubleheader is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.

MILLER IS NWC PICK: PLU senior David Miller has earned Northwest Conference Player of the Week honors after leading the Lutes to an easy 9-0 win over George Fox last Saturday. The match was played at the UPS Indoor Pavilion. Miller beat Kyle Pearson 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and teamed with Justin Larimore to beat Pearson and Ralf Schultz, 8-1, at No. 1 doubles.

LUTES CAGE BRUINS: The Lutes improved to 5-2 in NWC play and 5-4 overall with the 9-0 win over George Fox. The Lutes showed their strength in the doubles, sweeping all three matches. The single matches were very similar with the Lutes proving to be too much for the Bruins to handle. David Miller improved his singles record to 7-1 with his victory over Pearson, and Jeff Loranger followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mac Ovenall. Freshman Kevin Floyd kept his form as he beat Nick Jenness 6-0, 6-1, and Justin Lairmore followed suit, beating Ralf Shultz 6-1, 6-0. Jared Vidano kept the hits coming after he knocked off Jordon Vargas 6-4, 6-0, and James Crosetto beat Shawn McKenzie 6-3, 6-1 in the final match of the day.

CALIFORNIA TRIP LOOMS: Pacific Lutheran annually plays some of the top NCAA Division III West Region trips during spring break, and this year is no different, as the Lutes will face four of those teams on their California trip. The junket opens with a match against NAIA national power Point Loma on March 24. The following day, PLU faces Trinity (Texas) in Claremont, Calif., and on March 27 it journeys down the road to Redlands to take on the University of Redlands Bulldogs. The opponent on March 28 is Pomona-Pitzer, and on March 30 the Lutes will be in Thousand Oaks to face Cal Lutheran. A nice angle to the trip is that Mike Benson, who coached the PLU men to 24 Northwest Conference titles in 30 years, is now a women’s assistant coach at Cal Lutheran. He and his wife, Mary, moved to Southern California to be closer to youngest daughter Karin after Benson’s retirement from PLU in 1999. Coach Benson and his wife expect to be in attendance at the PLU versus Cal Lutheran match.

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