By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's tennis team will travel to Oregon in its final road trip of the season to take on Linfield on Saturday before a matchup with George Fox on Sunday. Each match is scheduled to begin at 11:00 am.
Check the men's tennis schedule for live updates on next week's action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (5-11 overall, 5-5 NWC) won both of its Northwest Conference matches this weekend in a split schedule.
On Saturday, the Pirates beat Pacific (Ore.) for the first time in twelve years. The Bucs swept doubles and won five singles matches, two of them in three sets. Henry Preacher returned to the lineup after missing the previous four matches and defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-4. Easton Weir and Ryan Ashley each fought to a pair of three-set tiebreaking wins. The Whitworth 6-1 victory snapped a 15-match losing streak against the Boxers.
Division I Eastern Washington visited on Saturday evening and defeated the Pirates 6-1. The Eagles had just five athletes competing, so Colby Cinqmars was awarded a win by default in the No. 6 position. EWU won both doubles matches and earned five singles wins in two sets.
The Pirates swept Willamette for the second time this season on Sunday. Whitworth swept doubles before winning each singles match in two sets. Preacher and Hossack were most dominant and allowed their opponents just one set point. Cinqmars earned his first singles win of the season 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 6 position. Whitworth has now beaten the Bearcats in 15 consecutive matches.
To close the weekend, the Pirates defeated Bellevue Community College 6-1 in an exhibition match on Sunday evening.
The Opponents: Linfield hosts Whitworth with a 2-13 record on the season and a 2-8 mark in conference play. The Wildcats have lost seven matches in a row heading into this weekend, including a pair of losses to Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound last weekend. Sophomore Brooks Lerfald has a 2-12 record in the No. 1 singles position and pairs with senior Rogue Stone as the No. 1 doubles duo. Stone is 2-8 this season in the No 2. Singles position. The Pirates hold a six-match win streak against Linfield, including a 6-1 win in Spokane on March 1st.
George Fox has an 8-6 overall record and 8-2 conference record. The Bruins split a pair of conference matches last weekend against Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark. GFU hosts Whitman on Saturday before the Pirates visit on Sunday. Graduate student Lars Schmassmann leads the Bruins as the No. 1 singles player with a 9-4 record. Junior Ikuho Ibisu pairs with Schmassmann as the top GFU doubles duo. Sophomore Zach Moore competes in the second slot in both singles and doubles. Whitworth has not beaten the Bruins since 2016, including a 5-2 loss in Spokane on March 2nd.
NWC Standings: Whitman remains at the top of the conference standings with a 10-0 record. George Fox (8-1) is in second with Lewis & Clark (8-3) trailing. Pacific and Whitworth are tied for the final NWC tournament spot at 5-5. Puget Sound (3-8), Linfield (2-8) and Willamette (0-10) trailing.
The Coach: Daniel Redfern is in his second year as Pirate head coach after working as an assistant since 2019. In his first season, he led Whitworth to a 3-4 NWC record (5-13 overall). Redfern was a two-year standout for the Pirates, earning first team All-conference honors in 2011 and 2012 after transferring to Whitworth.
Looking ahead: The Pirates will host Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound in the final matches of the season on April 12th and 13th.
