Singles Sweep Leads to Seventh Straight for Men's Tennis

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The Whitman men's tennis team embarks on their annual Spring Break trip this evening. Before the Missionary men can test themselves against six nationally ranked teams in Santa Cruz and Hawaii, however, they had to take care of one last conference match. Their last match before break could have been tough, as the Whits paid a visit to the Pacific Boxers (last year's 2nd place conference finishers), but the result did not remain in doubt long.

The 13th-ranked Missionaries shuffled their doubles lineup in preparation for break, but came away with the same result as their previous match. At No. 2 doubles, junior Andrew La Cava (Bellevue, WA) and sophomore Colton Malesovas (Austin, TX) put Whitman in front with a 8-1 victory over Pacific's Lorne Bulling and Brian Kyaw. At No. 3 doubles, Steven Roston (Burlingame, CA) and Sam Sadeghi (Los Angeles, CA) broke free from a 4-4 deadlock to beat Alen Suklje and Kolin Wong 8-4.

Whitman fell at the No. 1 spot where senior Matt Tesmond (Cincinnati, OH) and junior transfer Andy Riggs (Auburn, CA) lost to Paciific's formidable duo of Troy Zuroske and Giancarlo Battaglia. The Boxer No. 1s haven't lost this season, and they appeared headed to another routine victory when they broke twice to take a 7-4 lead. Down two breaks, Tesmond and Riggs turned up their intensity, saved a match point, and broke to close within 6-7. The match exhibited shades of the Whitman duo's scintillating come back against George Fox, especially when Tesmond and Riggs earned two break points in Pacific's ensuing service game, but Zuroske unleashed two unreturnable serves and the Boxers were 8-6 victors two points later.

That was the end of the good news for the Boxers, as the Whits dominated the bottom half of the singles lineup once again to clinch the victory. Junior Will Huskey (Auburn, CA) made it 3-1 with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kyaw at No. 6. At No. 3, Sadeghi took an early break against Brandon Schlack, but surrendered it and had to serve to stay in the set at 4-5. The wily senior rattled of three straight games, and proceeded to cruise to a 7-5 6-2 win.  Once again, Andy Riggs provided the clinching fifth point by beating Bulling 6-2, 6-1. The lefty Steven Roston was next off the court after battling with some late nerves to close out Suklje 6-1 6-4. La Cava had the most impressive singles showing of the day at No. 2 singles where he handed Battaglia his first conference loss of the year by a 6-3, 6-1 count.

Playing in the top slot, Malesovas was last off again. The sophomore handled Zuroske's devastating serve well in the first set, earning several break points in the two-time NWC first teamer's first two service games. Whitman's Texan finally capitalized in the third and eventually held a 4-3 lead, but played two sloppy service games to close the set and lost 4-6. Malesovas responded in the second set by taking an early lead and holding on for a 6-4 win. With the team match decided, the match went to a 10-point tiebreaker, where Malesovas held leads of 4-2 and 8-3 before holding on to for a 10-6 victory.

This story was contributed by Robert Holton-Burke

Match Results below

Whitman 8, Pacific (Ore.) 1
3/8/13 at Forest Grove, Ore. (Holce Tennis Courts) 

Singles competition

1. Malesovas, Colton (WTMN) def. Zuroske, Troy (PAC) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)

2. La Cava, Andrew (WTMN) def. Battaglia, Giancarlo (PAC) 6-3, 6-1

3. Sadeghi, Sam (WTMN) def. Schlack, Brandon (PAC) 7-5, 6-2

4. Roston, Steven (WTMN) def. Suklje, Alen (PAC) 6-1, 6-4

5. Riggs, Andy (WTMN) def. Bulling, Lorne (PAC) 6-2, 6-1

6. Huskey, Will (WTMN) def. Kyaw, Brian (PAC) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Zuroske, Troy/Battaglia, Giancarlo (PAC) def. Tesmond, Matt/Riggs, Andy (WTMN) 8-6

2. Malesovas, Colton/La Cava, Andrew (WTMN) def. Bulling, Lorne/Kyaw, Brian (PAC) 8-1

3. Roston, Steven/Sadeghi, Sam (WTMN) def. Suklje, Alen/Wong, Kolin (PAC) 8-4

Match Notes

Whitman 7-1, 7-0 NWC

Pacific (Ore.) 2-5, 2-4 NWC