March 20, 2008

MEN’S TENNIS: Lutes Face Tough Foes on Spring Break Trip

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at Point Loma Nazarene, Monday, 3 p.m.; PLU at Redlands, Tuesday, 2 p.m.; PLU at Pomona-Pitzer, Tuesday, 2 p.m.; PLU vs. Middlebury (Vt.) at Claremont, Calif., Wednesday, 9 a.m.

NO. 29 LUTES FACE RANKED FOES: Pacific Lutheran, ranked No. 29 in NCAA Division III men’s tennis, heads to California for spring break to play four opponents, and this string of opponents will be the toughest that the Lutes will face all season. They open the trip on Monday, March 24, with a contest against Point Loma Nazarene, currently ranked No. 11 among NAIA teams. The following day, PLU takes on another team ranked No. 11, University of Redlands, which holds that ranking in the NCAA Division III ranks. The Lutes face unranked Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif., on Wednesday, March 26, but while Pitzer is unranked it usually is one of the West Region’s best programs. The trip concludes with the toughest opponent of all, Middlebury (Vt.), which is ranked No. 5 in Division III men’s tennis. PLU will face Middlebury in Claremont, Calif.

LAST WEEK: The Lutes kept a firm grasp on second place in the Northwest Conference men’s tennis standings with a pair of wins on Saturday at the UPS Tennis Pavilion. The Lutes started the day with a 9-0 morning win over Willamette and then came back in the late afternoon to defeat Lewis & Clark, 7-2. With the wins, the Lutes improve to 10-5 overall and to 10-2 in the Northwest Conference. They trail only Whitman, which is unbeaten in 10 conference counters. PLU got a strong performance from Kevin Floyd in the win against Willamette. He teamed up with doubles partner Justin Larimore to record an 8-4 victory at No. 1 before swamping Willamette’s Eric MacMillan, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Floyd earned a measure of revenge for a three-set loss to MacMillan back on Feb. 16. The Lutes finished off the opening doubles competition with an 8-6 win from Justin Peterson and Michael Manser at No. 2 and an 8-3 victory from Scott Sheldon and Jared Vidano at No. 3. Taking a cue from Floyd, the Lutes rolled through the Bearcats in straight sets in all but one singles match. After a three-hour break, the Lutes came back to whip Lewis & Clark, 7-2, with about half of the Lutes’ top players sitting out the singles competition. PLU started with wins in two of the three doubles events. Floyd and Larimore switched spots with Peterson and Manser and recorded an 8-1 win, while Vidano and Sheldon teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 3. The Pioneers won at No. 1 doubles with George Allen and Dirk Frouws beating Peterson and Manser, 8-6. The Lutes won five of the six singles matches, with Peterson leading off by moving up two spots to the top singles spots and beating Allen, 7-6, 6-4. Tory Silvestrin jumped three spots to No. 3 and beat Andrew Moller, 6-2, 6-0, and rounding out the PLU singles winners were James Crosetto at No. 4, Vidano at No. 5 and John deMars at No. 6.

- PLU -