Feb. 7, 2008

MEN’S TENNIS: Lutes Open Season Against the Best

THIS WEEK: PLU at Pacific Northwest Indoors, Friday and Saturday, hosted by Whitman College in Walla Walla.

LUTES GO AGAINST THE BEST: Nothing like front-loading your schedule, and that’s certainly what Pacific Lutheran co-head coaches Craig Hamilton and Jeff Allen have done with this year’s PLU team. For the second straight year, the Lutes will open their 2008 season against four opponents in two days at the Pacific Northwest Indoors tournament in Walla Walla. (Last year the event was called the PLU/UPS Invitational and held at the University of Puget Sound). On Friday, PLU will start with conference rival Whitman, currently ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Division III preseason poll, and then take on defending NCAA Division III national champion and current No.1-ranked UC Santz Cruz. At 8 a.m. the following day and likely working on less than eight hours of sleep, the Lutes will face another strong Northwest Conference team in Linfield (the only unranked team in the group). After a break, PLU returns to the court at 4 p.m. to face Lewis-Clark State College, ranked No. 11 in the NAIA preseason rankings.

OH, BY THE WAY: While mentioning the power-packed and nationally ranked lineup that PLU will face this coming weekend, it should be noted that the Lutes enter the season ranked No. 19 in the NCAA Division III preseason national poll.

MORE ABOUT THE LUTES: The 2007 Lutes finished with a 14-2 regular season conference record, behind only Whitman's perfect 16-0 record. Pacific Lutheran upset Whitman in the conference tournament, however, to earn its 33rd conference title since 1970. The good news for the Lutes? Only two seniors graduated from that team: first-team all-NWC performer Jeff Loranger and two-time first team All-NWC and All-American doubles player David Miller. Returning for this year's team are 2007 first-team all-conference sophomore Kevin Floyd (10-12 singles, 13-9 doubles in 2007), as well as second-team all-conference performers Justin Larimore (12-7 singles, 17-6 doubles in 2007) and Justin Peterson (13-12 singles, 15-11 doubles in 2007). Larimore, a senior from Puyallup, earned All-American recognition for his impressive performance in doubles competition. Key newcomers this season include sophomore Michael Manser, a sophomore transfer from University of Idaho, and freshman Scott Sheldon from Edmonds. Both could work their way into the top six this season and push their veteran teammates.

- PLU -