WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Whitman College men's tennis team, 17-9 on the season and 14-0 in the Northwest Conference, can clinch its second consecutive regular season championship with a victory in its final home match of the season this Saturday. Whitman hosts Puget Sound at 1 p.m. on the outdoor courts (Bratton Tennis Center in the case of rain).
Puget Sound, 5-7 in the NWC, plays at Whitworth Friday before coming to Walla Walla on Saturday. Whitman blanked the Loggers 9-0 earlier this season in Tacoma. It was one of 10 shutouts for Whitman during the conference season so far this spring.
With victories over Puget Sound on Saturday and Lewis & Clark on April 12 in Portland, Whitman will wrap up its second straight undefeated NWC regular season. The NWC championship tournament follows April 18-19 in Yakima, Wash., with the winner getting an automatic berth in the NCAA Div. III national playoffs.
A number of Whitman players have yet to lose in NWC singles play. Freshman Chris Bailey, who is 10-0 against conference foes, has won half of those matches at the No. 3 slot. Sophomore Dan Wilson is 9-0, playing primarily at No. 4 and No. 5, while senior Robert Rye and junior Daniel Solomon are both 6-0. Sophomore Jasper Follows has won all five of his decisions in singles.
Rye, the lone senior on Whitman's talented and deep roster, has won twice at No. 1 singles, twice at No. 5 and twice at No. 6. Daniel Solomon has played all of his conference matches at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Follows has played his matches at slots three through six.
Sophomores Jake Cappel and David Deming have compiled NWC singles records of 9-1 and 7-1, respectively. Cappel his split his time between the top four spots, while Deming has seen most of his court time in the lower three slots. Sophomore Matt Solomon, playing all of his matches at the highly competitive No. 1 slot, is 6-2 in conference.
In NWC doubles play, Follows has teamed with junior Justin Hayashi for a 7-0 record, playing in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Cappel and sophomore Nadeem Kassam have split time between the top two slots, compiling a 5-1 conference record. The Solomon brothers, Daniel and Matt, are 6-2 in matches played entirely at No. 1.
In the ITA's latest NCAA Div. III rankings (April 1), Whitman is No. 19 at the national level and No. 5 in the West Region.
In the latest individual rankings (March 18) for the west region, Matt Solomon is No. 4, Bailey No. 7, Etienne Moshevich (injured) No. 11, Cappel No. 13, and Daniel Solomon No. 24. In the doubles rankings, the Solomon brothers were No. 4 and Cappel/Kassam No. 9.
In latest national individual rankings (Nov. 7), Matt Solomon was No. 15 in singles. He and Moshevich were ranked No. 7 in doubles after they won last fall's ITA West Region doubles title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the small college national championships.