After their tough loss to University of Hawaii at Hilo on March 26, men’s tennis came out focused against Pacific Lutheran University on March 27. Their strong effort lifted them past their opponents, as they swept PLU in a 9-0 victory.

EAGLES DOMINATE IN DOUBLES

“Our team has been struggling focusing from point to point,” said head coach David Goodman. “That was kind of [my] big message: from the first point to the last point you guys just play as hard as you can.”

The duo of sophomore Derek James and senior Lucas Lee started the day strong, winning their match 8-3. Freshman Quentin Lau and senior Philip Westwood followed that up with an 8-4 victory, giving the Eagles the prompt 2-0 lead over PLU. Although the last doubles of the day proved closer than the others, a strong finish by freshman Logan Blair and senior Joe Turnquist propelled them to an 8-6 win, making the Eagles’ lead 3-0.

SINGLES CONTINUE SUCCESS

“We knew we had to come out with energy and play our style of tennis from the first point in doubles,” Turnquist said. “We were fortunate to get out to a 3-0 lead, and for singles all of us just kept our foot on the gas.”

The men followed their dominance in doubles with a sweep in singles. Five Eagles each won one of their sets by a 6-0 score and all six players defeated their opponent in only two sets. Despite Westwood having a close second set, he finished the match with a 7-5 win to complete the Eagles’ singles sweep.

LOOKING TO FINISH STRONG

“I don’t think we are fully there, but I think we took some steps in the right direction,” Goodman said. “We are kind of headed towards the end of the season and playing some important conference matches in the next couple of weeks and we are just gearing up for those matches to hopefully get some revenge.”

The Eagles hope to build off their strong performance against PLU as they host Merrimack College and conference opponent Concordia University Irvine on March 28 and April 5, respectively. The Eagles’ 9-0 victory makes their record 4-10 with four games remaining in the regular season.