PORTLAND, Ore. – Whitworth earned a split of its Northwest Conference men's tennis trip to Oregon with an 8-1 win over Lewis & Clark on Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the NWC.  The Pioneers fell to 1-4, 1-4.

Whitworth jumped to a 3-0 lead by sweeping the doubles matches.  John Talbot and Matt Gobel got the Pirates on the board early with an 8-0 win over Lucas Fodor and Carter Gee-Taylor at #3.  Micah Spaun and Stefan Dernbach doubled up Scott Monismith and Cole Pfeifer 8-4 at #2 doubles.  Daniel Redfern and Cameron Williams earned a hard-earned 8-5 win over Oliver Groot and Quinn Roth-Carter at #1.

Groot got a measure of revenge when he beat Redfern 6-1, 6-3 at #1 singles for L&C's only point of the match.

Williams swept Gee-Taylor 6-0, 6-2 at #2 singles, while Spaun topped Roth-Carter 6-4, 6-2 at #3.

Talbot came from behind to defeat Monismith 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 at #4 singles, while Dernbach held off Pfeifer 6-0, 7-5 at #5.  Ben Hamming wrapped up the Pirates' win with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Fodor at #6.

The Pirates return home for three matches this week.  First up is an exhibition match against the Vietnam Junior National team on Monday.  Whitworth will host Willamette and Linfield in a pair of NWC matches next weekend.