WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Phalkun Mam set a new school record for individual career victories and the Whitman College men's tennis team posted its 20th win of the season with a 9-0 blanking of Lewis & Clark Saturday afternoon in Walla Walla.
The Northwest Conference match started on the outdoor courts with Whitman sweeping the three matches in doubles. Soon after singles started, the competition moved indoors to the Bratton Tennis Center as a light rain started falling.
Mam, a senior from Salem, Ore., chalked up his 150th career victory when he and senior Steven Ly scored an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles. Mam moved past the previous record holder, Tim Mullin, a 2002 graduate who also came to Whitman from Salem.
Mam, who holds a No. 4 national singles ranking in NCAA Div. III, pushed his career win total to 151 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles. Ly, who won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, increased his own victory total to 134.
Robbie Munday, a Missionary senior from Okanogan Falls, B.C., also picked up a pair of wins, increasing his number of career victories to 143. After teaming with junior Robert Rye for an 8-0 triumph in No. 2 doubles, Munday won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Rye also played in singles, winning 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5.
Senior Kenji Strait and sophomore Justin Hayashi were 8-2 winners for Whitman at No. 3 doubles. Strait came back for singles, rolling to a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
Freshman Thomas Roston finished up the Missionary sweep in singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win in the No. 4 match.
The Lewis & Clark match was one of two Whitman was playing Saturday. The Missionaries divided their roster in two, sending a second group to play Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. Pending the outcome of that match, Whitman is now 20-4 on the season, which includes a 14-0 record in the NWC.
The loss dropped Lewis & Clark to 2-9 in the NWC and on the season as a whole. The Pioneers play Sunday at Whitworth.
Whitman takes next week off before wrapping up its regular season with four matches on April 14-15. The NWC Championships are set for April 20-21.
Doubles
No. 1 -- Mam/Ly (Whitman) def. Lindsay/Wheeler: 8-1
No. 2 -- Munday/Rye (LC) def. Allen/Ray: 8-0
No. 3 -- Justin Hayashi/Strait (Whitman) def. Moller/Matthias Kullowatz: 8-2
Singles
No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. George Allen: 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. David Lindsay: 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 -- Robbie Munday (Whitman) def. Luke Wheeler: 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 -- Thomas Roston (Whitman) def. Peter Ray: 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 -- Robert Rye (Whitman) def. Andrew Moller: 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 -- Kenji Strait (Whitman) def. Tom Youmans: 6-0, 6-3
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
Email: holden@whitman.edu