Men’s tennis broke their losing streak by defeating the Pacific University Boxers on Wednesday. Through defeating the Boxers, the Eagles gained their seventh victory of the season.
At first, the Boxers had the upper hand in doubles with a 6-3 win at No. 1 as well as a No. 3 victory. However, the Eagles came in with one victory in doubles from sophomores Logan Blair and Quentin Lau.
“We took control of the big moment,” Blair said. “We let a couple points slip and then Quentin was able to finish it out with a big serve… Even though the other guys lost, it gave the team confidence by ending the doubles with a win and put everyone on a good note going into singles.”
Blair went on into singles to win his first set 6-0 while four of his teammates captured the first set in their singles matches. Freshman Edwyn Ramos at No. 1 and senior David Garcia at No. 6 both earned straight-set victories. Derek James won his first singles set 7-5 and was able to come out with a victory by finishing his third set 6-0. Despite his victory, James also believes that he was not at his best.
“My singles match was super tough,” James said. “[Reyn Miyagawa] is a good player. I was definitely not playing my best… but I was able to get it done.”
James stayed undefeated at the No. 3 singles position with the win and has also become the first player to hold ten singles wins this season. Freshman Andrew Meneses carried the Eagles to a strong finish by winning sets two and three. The victory is the first three-set win for Meneses as well as his third victory in singles.
Head coach David Goodman also believed that the results could have been better.
“I think it was a little split,” Goodman said. “I was hoping we could play a little bit better in the doubles. We have been struggling there. In singles, we have been strong in the top three positions this year and have been winning a lot of matches. Those guys have been carrying us and have been getting better every time they step on the court… I have been asking the guys for someone from the bottom of the line up to win some matches for us to take off the pressure from the top guys.”
After defeating the Boxers, the Eagles (7-9) are scheduled to face the Saint Katherine Firebirds in San Marcos, California at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
