SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth dropped the first match of a three-match weekend road trip to Oregon on Friday night, falling to 40th-ranked Pacific (Ore.) 7-2 in a Northwest Conference men's tennis match.
The Boxers improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the NWC while the Pirates dropped to 1-4, 1-2.
Pacific took all three doubles matches to build an imposing 3-0 lead. Whitworth's #3 doubles team of Shane Sandlin and Caleb Hughes lost by a single break (8-5) to Pacific's Reuben Mulhern and Josh Bernstein. It was the first loss of the season for the Pirate pair.
Whitworth got its two points at #1 singles and at #4 singles. Drew Brigham defeated Brennan Faith 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in a tightly-contested match at #1 singles. Brigham improved to 2-3 this season, 2-1 in the NWC. Drew Adams beat Mulhern 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) at #4 singles. Adams is also now 2-3 in singles this year, 2-1 in conference matches.
Two other matches went three sets. Pacific's Clark Wininger edged Blake Miller 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 at #2 singles. Then Chris Dalton of Pacific got by Sandlin 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) at #5 singles.
Whitworth will return to action on Saturday morning at Linfield, then the Pirates conclude the trip on Sunday morning at Willamette.
