April 16, 2008

MEN’S TENNIS: Lutes Out to Defend Conference Title

THIS WEEKEND: Pacific Lutheran hosts the Northwest Conference Championships, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 17-18, at Yakima Tennis Club in Yakima, Wash.

FLOYD EARNS CONFERENCE HONOR: For the second consecutive week, PLU sophomore Kevin Floyd has earned Northwest Conference Player of the Week honors for his performance in two matches last week. Floyd led the Lutes to victories over Linfield and George Fox to conclude the regular season.

LAST WEEKEND: PLU defeated Linfield on Friday and George Fox on Saturday to finish its Northwest Conference schedule with a 14-2 record. The Lutes had a tough battle against Linfield before they finally took a 5-4 win over the Wildcats, who have the third best record in the conference. Kevin Floyd and Justin Larimore picked up crucial points for the Lutes at the top of doubles and also in singles. Floyd and Larimore beat Nick Ruess and Kyle Anderson in No. 1 doubles, 9-8 (7-2), and both of them came back for singles wins. Floyd defeated Ruess at No. 1, 6-2, 6-1, and Larimore turned the numbers on Anderson at No. 2, 6-1, 6-2. Those four points, combined with the an 8-6 win from Justin Peterson and Michael Manser at No. 2 doubles, gave the Lutes four points. Tory Silvestrin provided the difference for PLU, defeating Brad Henson at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 6-1. On Saturday, the Lutes had little trouble with George Fox, beating the Bruins 9-0. Floyd and Silvestrin were the only PLU players who participated in singles against Linfield to come back against George Fox. Floyd beat Mac Ovenell at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2, and Silvestrin jumped all the way to No. 2 singles where he beat Nick Jenness, 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3). Other singles winners were Jared Vidano at No. 3, Scott Sheldon at No. 4, James Crosetto at No. 5 and John deMars at No. 6. The Lutes also won all of the doubles points, including an 8-2 win for Floyd and Larimore at No. 1. Manser and Silvestrin teamed for the win at No. 2 and Vidano and Sheldon skunked their opponents at No. 3.

CONFERENCE NOTES: Pacific Lutheran will serve as host for the Northwest Conference Championships scheduled for April 18-19 at the Yakima Tennis Club in Yakima. A total of six of the conference’s nine teams will qualify for the tournament, and they are seeded in this order - Whitman, PLU, Linfield, Whitworth, Willamette and Puget Sound. The tournament gets underway Friday morning and concludes with the championship match scheduled for noon on Saturday.

MORE CONFERENCE NOTES: Whitman entered the 2007 Northwest Conference men’s championship tournament with a perfect 16-0 record in conference matches, but it was Pacific Lutheran that won the NWC tournament crown with a 6-3 win over the Missionaries. For the Lutes, it was their third consecutive Northwest Conference title. The situation is similar this year as Whitman again marches into the 2008 event with a 16-0 record and the No. 1 seed, while defending champion PLU brings a 14-2 record and the No. 2 seed. Whitman hopes to put an exclamation point on a strong conference season by winning its first Northwest Conference title since 2004. While some people might assume that the men’s championship will come down to a Whitman vs. PLU match, there is good reason to consider Linfield as a possible tournament final participant.

ABOUT WHITMAN: Whitman (20-9 overall, 16-0 NWC) rolled through its conference schedule without trouble, winning a combined total of 135 singles and doubles matches while losing only nine. Included in their total were convincing 6-3 and 9-0 victories over Pacific Lutheran and a pair of 7-2 decisions over Linfield. The No. 1-seed Missionaries enter the tournament with the nation’s No. 19 ranking and are the only nationally ranked team in the conference tournament. Among the top players are Matt Solomon, Daniel Solomon, Jake Cappel, Chris Bailey and Dan Wilson.

ABOUT PLU: Pacific Lutheran (14-10 overall, 14-2 NWC) has won three straight conference titles but would need a repeat of the 2007 tournament scenario to make it four in a row. Sophomore Kevin Floyd is 9-2 in conference singles matches this year, and senior teammate Justin Larimore is 8-2 against NWC foes. The pair is also unbeaten in seven conference doubles matches. Other top players for the No. 2-seed Lutes include Justin Peterson and Michael Manser. After losing five straight matches during spring break, the Lutes enter the tournament with a four-match winning streak.

- PLU -