'Cats sink Pirates' ship, win 8-1

April 04, 2009

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Though they ultimately swept the three doubles matches, the Linfield Wildcats had to dig deep in order to collect an 8-1 Northwest Conference triumph over visiting Whitworth Saturday afternoon at the Linfield Tennis Center.

The Wildcats managed to take a 3-0 advantage in the match using a modified doubles lineup.

Mark Magdaong (Jr., Lahaina, Hawaii) and Ward Van Mens emerged with a win at No. 1 doubles by virtue of a a 9-8 (6) tiebreaker over the Whitworth duo of Michael Shelton and Joe Wales. A similarly intense battle was being waged on the No. 2 court, where Brent Kingzett (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) and Walt James fought off a pressing challenge by the Bucs’ Henry Williams and Colin Zalewski to win a tiebreaker 9-8 (8). Kyle Anderson (Sr., Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Tal DeWitt (Jr., Battle Ground, Wash.) won in slightly less dramatic fashion, topping Whitworth’s Kellen Oetgen and Colin Barrett 8-6 at No. 3.

As singles play commenced, Anderson topped Shelton 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1, Van Mens battled past Wales 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) at No. 2, and Nick Ruess crafted a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Zalewski at No. 3.

In the lower tiers, Magdaong handled Williams, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 and DeWitt beat Oetgen 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5. The Pirates earned their team point at No. 6, where Barrett downed the Wildcats’ Matt Levering (Sr., Salem, Ore.) 6-2, 6-4.

Whitworth moved to 10-8 and 9-5 in the NWC standings. Linfield remained in third place, improving to 12-6 overall and 11-3 in conference play.

NEXT: Linfield hosts Lewis & Clark Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Linfield Tennis Center.

Ward Van Mens
Survives two tiebreakers