The 2013 men’s tennis seasoned opened one week ago today and although the Loggers had home court advantage they unfortunately were unable to hold off the Pacific Boxers with an 8-1 loss. Junior John Stevens (Portland, Ore) scored the Loggers (0-1, 0-1 NWC) only point during the number-six singles match.
Stevens left the court with a 6-3 7-5 win over Pacific’s Ty Tanaka. Unfortunately, the Boxers came out on top in other matches to walk away with the win. However, that is not to say that the Loggers did not give it their all.
In the number-one singles match, senior Mike Cutter (Colorado Springs, Colo.) forced a third set but was defeated 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 by Pacific’s Troy Zuroske. Newcomer freshman Daniel Deuel (Oakland, Calif.) fell 6-0 in the number-two match.
In his first match as a Logger athlete, sophomore Graham Baker (Denver, Colo.) forced a third set but fell 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Alen Suklje. Sophomore Jake Peterson (Bellevue, Wash.) was defeated 6-3, 6-1 in the number-four match.
The number-five match was captured by Pacific’s Kolin Wong 6-0, 6-3 over sophomore Abe Noyes (Southwest Harbor, Maine).
The double matches did not fare any better with the Boxers claiming a doubles sweep over the Loggers.
Unfortunately, the Loggers saw little change during their matches on Sunday Feb 17. The Loggers team was swept by the George Fox Bruins during Northwest Conference Play, to the tune of a final score of 9-0.
The highlight of the singles portion of the even came when Stevens battled George Fox’s Chase Stalcup. After dropping the first set 6-1, Stevens battled back to claim the second set by a score of six to three.
The tiebreaker was a back-and-forth affair that required its own tiebreaker to resolve. Finally, by a score of 10-7, Stevens was dispatched by his opponent.
Stevens and his partner Noyes also made things interesting in their doubles match, pushing their opponents to the brink. However, the team came away without a Logger point yet again, as they lost 9-7/
Matches might not have resulted in many a Logger victory, but it is only the beginning of the season. School has been in session, and Logger athletes are just beginning to get back in the swing of things. Although this past weekend marked a rough start for men’s tennis, the season is far from over.
The Loggers will have until March 1 to improve their form, when they hit the road to face off against Whitman.
