Feb. 13, 2008

MEN’S TENNIS: PLU Hits Northwest Conference Play

THIS WEEK: PLU at Lewis & Clark, Saturday, 10 a.m.; PLU at Willamette, Saturday, 2 p.m.

TWO ON SATURDAY: After losing three of four – all against nationally ranked opponents – at the Pacific Northwest Indoors tournament in Walla Walla, Pacific Lutheran gets fully into the Northwest Conference schedule with two conference counters this coming Saturday. The Lutes will send a split squad to Oregon to take on Lewis & Clark in Portland at 10 a.m. and Willamette in Salem at 2 p.m.

LAST WEEKEND: The Lutes picked up their only win against Linfield, taking a 6-3 victory on Saturday morning, then came back several hours later and concluded their tournament with a 9-0 loss to Lewis-Clark State, ranked No. 11 in the NAIA national poll. The Lutes opened with a pair of losses on Friday, falling to tournament host and No. 15-ranked Whitman by a 6-3 score before finding out just how good No. 1-ranked and defending national champion UC Santa Cruz really is, losing 9-0. Against Whitman, PLU’s Kevin Floyd won the number one singles match by defeating Matthew Solomon 6-4, 6-3. The only other winner in singles matches for PLU was Jared Vidano who topped Christopher Fuchs 1-6, 6-3, 10-8, at No. 5. Whitman was able to claim two of the three doubles matches to give Whitman the edge in team scoring, 6-3. The No. 1 pair of Justin Peterson and Justin Larimore gave the Lutes their lone doubles victory, 9-8. The second match of the day pitted the Lutes against an extremely talented UC Santa Cruz. The Banana Slugs have won six national championships are the top ranked team in nation for NCAA Division III. The Slugs swept PLU 9-0 while not dropping a set to the Lutes. Against Linfield, the Lutes won two of the three doubles matches and then took four of six in singles. Doubles winners included Peterson and Larimore at No. 1 and Floyd and Michael Manser at No. 2. In singles, PLU winners were Floyd at No. 1, Larimore at No. 2, Manser at No. 4 and Jared Vidano at No. 5.

- PLU -