This weekend, Whitman men’s tennis took on Willamette University and Lewis and Clark College on the outdoor courts. Whitman: who came into these matches ranked 25th nationally and sixth regionally: increased their Northwest Conference win streak to 55 after besting both Willamette, 7-2, and Lewis and Clark, 9-0.

On Saturday, March 6, the Missionaries started off strong in doubles against Willamette, winning all three matches. At number one doubles, senior Matt Solomon and junior Etienne Moshevich won 8-3; at number two doubles, senior Christoph Fuchs and junior Quin Miller won 8-2; and at number three doubles, senior Jake Cappel and first-year Jeff Tolman dominated their Willamette counterparts, winning 8-0.

Even with team leaders, Solomon and Moshevich, losing early singles matches, 7-6 (5-7), 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-4, respectively, the Missionaries were still able to clinch the win after junior Chris Bailey comfortably defeated his opponent at number four singles 6-0, 6-2.   Fuchs swept his opponent at number five singles in similar fashion 6-0, 6-2 and first-year Sam Sadeghi demolished his opponent 6-0, 6-0.   Tolman faced some trouble from his opponent at number two singles, but pulled out a 7-6 (7-2), 0-6, 6-4 win in the end.

After the match, Head Coach Jeff Northam commented on his team’s potential and ability to overcome challenges.

“Injuries haven’t been very kind to us this year. Seems like since the first week of the season we have had guys out with injuries. I know that as a team we are capable of playing better. Hopefully everyone will continue to improve and we will be at the top of our game by the conference tournament. This weekend we probably played our best doubles of the year. Against a good Willamette team, we came out with a lot of intensity and jumped out out to quick leads,” he said.

Sadeghi was similarly excited about the Missionaries performance.

“We needed to make a statement this weekend after our come-from-behind 5-4 win against Pacific Lutheran University and we did just that,” he said. “Willamette is arguably the second-best team in the conference and a 7-2 win is impressive. Hopefully we can continue to play this well into spring break when we play some of our most important matches of the season.”

On Sunday, March 7, the Missionaries capitalized on the momentum they gained from their victory over Willamette cruising to a 9-0 win over Lewis and Clark. Fuchs and sophomore Conor Holton-Burke easily defeated their Pioneer opponents, 8-1 in the number one doubles match. Senior Thomas Roston and sophomore Adriel Borshansky won 8-4 at number two doubles and senior David Deming and first-year Matt Tesmond won 8-1 in the final doubles match.

The singles portion of the match was all Whitman. The Missionary players combined to lose only six games each dominating their Lewis and Clark counterparts in straight sets.

Cappel, playing Lewis and Clark sophomore Quinn Roth-Carter in the number three singles, was the only Missionary to be challenged at all. After deftly taking the first set 6-0, his game eluded him in a second set plagued by missed serves and unforced errors. By the end of the set frustration was visible: and in some cases audible: by both players.  However, good baseline and net play by Cappel coupled with superior shot placement gave him an advantage over Roth-Carter as the set went to tie-break.

Early on Cappel looked to be taking control of the tie-break as he went up 2-0 with a good serve and backhand winner. However, Roth-Carter fought back to tie the score at 4-4. Late in the tie-break Cappel displayed his superior conditioning as he took the last three points from his visibly exhausted opponent, grinding out a hard-earned 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Both the coach and players say that the 55 game win streak is not a concern or a blessing for the team; in fact Sadeghi said he did not even realize that they had such a win streak.

“One pretty unique aspect of our program is we often split the team into two different teams and go play conference matches. If I [or the team]  was concerned about a streak we wouldn’t split squad our matches,” Northam said. “Our conference has gotten better the past few years and we are far from over-confident. One thing about consistently being one of the top teams in the conference is we always get every team’s best effort. ”

The Missionaries hope to continue their win streak Friday, March 12, against Pacific Lutheran University at home.