Bearcats Rally to Edge Out Puget Sound, 5-4, in Men's Tennis

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University trailed 2-1 after doubles, but was victorious in four of the singles matches, as the Bearcats rallied past the University of Puget Sound, 5-4, in Northwest Conference men's tennis action on Saturday, March 9. The Bearcats improved to 3-5 overall, 3-3 in the NWC, while Puget Sound fell to 0-7 on the season, 0-7 in the NWC.

Joshua Wong (Sr., Hilo, HI/Hilo HS) of Willamette won #1 singles without losing a game, as he downed Michael Cutter, 6-0, 6-0. Wong, ranked #18 in NCAA Division III in singles, upped his record to 6-0 on the season.

Wong also teamed up with Sam Wexman (Fr., Tiburon, CA/Gamiscal HS) to earn an 8-2 victory at #1 doubles over Cutter and Graham Baker, 8-2.

Puget Sound, however, earned wins at #2 doubles and #3 doubles to take a lead into the singles matches.

In the #2 doubles match, Daniel Deuel and Jake Peterson outscored Will Cooper (Jr., Gresham, OR/Centennial HS) and Jack Schreiber (So., Solana Beach, CA/The Grauer School), 8-4. Abe Noyes and John Stevens of UPS won #3 doubles over Devin Abney (So., Shoreline, WA/Shorecrest HS/Univ. of Redlands) and Gunnar Lee (Fr., Hilo, HI/St. Joseph HS), 8-5.

The win by Wong at #1 singles led a solid comeback for the Bearcats. Wexman easily defeated Baker at #2 singles, 6-0, 6-2. Abney prevailed at #4 singles over Noyes, 6-4, 7-5, and Schreiber defeated Peterson at #5 singles, 6-3, 6-2.

Deuel won #3 singles for UPS, while Stevens won for the Loggers at #6 singles. Deuel defeated Cooper of WU in two competitive sets, winning 7-5, 6-4. Stevens needed to win a tie-breaker in the first set against Shrujan Kalidindi (Fr., Cupertino, CA/Monta Vista HS) before completing a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory.

Willamette will play its third match in three days when the Bearcats travel to Forest Grove, Ore., on Sunday, March 10 to take on Pacific University. Match time is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PDT).