WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College men's tennis team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday as they defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Occidental College, 6-3, in the morning and turned around a few short hours later to beat St. John's (Minn.), 7-2, in the night cap of the unconventional double-header.

The Poets (5-2, 2-2 SCIAC) started the day in Los Angeles as they faced Occidental at 9:30. The purple and gold fell behind early, 2-1 after doubles, but took five of the six singles matches to earn the conference victory.

Whittier's No. 1 doubles team of Justin DeLong and Sean Robertson got the first point for WC as they won their match, 8-5, over the Tiger's No. 1 doubles squad.

In singles competition both Robertson and DeLong had their way as they gave the Poets a lead they would not relinquish. Roberts defeated Occidental's No. 1, Reid Fenning, 6-4, 6-4, to snap his two match losing streak.

DeLong matched Robertson's efforts at No. 2 singles as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 win.

Lance Franey clinched the conference match for the Poets as he won at No. 4 singles 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). His doubles partner, Patricio Carregha, won in a slugfest over Oxy's No. 3 singles player, Mike Kuhn, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

"This was a breakthrough win for us," said head coach David Bojalad. "It has been a long time, if ever, that we have beaten this team and it was a goal of ours to pass them this year."

Following the conference tilt the Poets traveled the 30 miles back to their friendly confines as they played host to St. John's.  WC won two of its three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead going into singles play.

The No. 2 team of Franey and Carregha won a marathon five-set tie-breaker, 9-8 (5). The No. 3 doubles team of Gavin Smith and Frank Sun gave the Poets their second point as they won 8-6.

The Poets cleaned up in singles competition as they matched their morning effort by taking five of the six singles matches.

Robertson and DeLong went on to win 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 and No. 2 singles each, respectively.

Just as he had done in doubles play Franey once again went the distance as he played a three-set thriller and won, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), (10-5).

Frank Sun remained unbeaten in singles competition as he won both of his matches on the day. Against Occidental he won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles and he won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles against St. John's. Sun is 7-0 on the season.

"Most teams will do a split squad with a two a day match," said Bojalad. "We basically played both matches with our top guys. We have been working hard on our conditioning and knew we were up for the challenge."

The Poets return to action on Friday, March 13, as they host the University of the South, more commonly known as Sewanee, at 4:00 p.m.

Results vs. Occidental
Doubles
1. DeLong/Robertson (WC) def. Fenning/Wan (Oxy) 8-5
2. Pastor/Morgan (Oxy) def. Carregha/Franey (WC) 8-4
3. Kuhn/Sowers (Oxy) def. Smith/Sun (WC) 8-6

Singles
1. Sean Robertson (WC) def. Reid Fenning (Oxy) 6-4, 6-4
2. Justin DeLong (WC) def. Vic Sowers (Oxy) 6-4, 6-0
3. Patricio Carregha (WC) def. Mike Kuhn (Oxy) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
4. Lance Franey (WC) def. Stefan Pastor (Oxy) 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
5. Chris Wan (Oxy) def. Gavin Smith (WC) 6-1, 6-1
6. Frank Sun (WC) def. Ben Harrington (Oxy) 6-3, 6-2

Results vs. St. John's
Doubles
1. Steelman/Odegaurd (S.J.) def DeLong/ Robertson (WC) 8-5
2. Carregha/Franey (WC) def. Hansen/Goihl (S.J) 9-8 (5)
3. Smith/Sun (WC)  def. Hansen/Lingis 8-6

Singles
1. Sean Robertson (WC) def. Mark Steelman (S.J.) 6-4, 6-2
2. Justin DeLong (WC) def. Dutch Hansen (S.J.) 6-2, 6-0
3. Ian Hansen (S.J.) def. Patricio Carregha (WC)6-3, 3-6 (10-7)
4. Lance Franey (WC) def. Luke Odegaurd (S.J.) 6-7(8), 7-6(5) (10-5)
5. Frank Sun (WC) def. Kevin Boihl (S.J.) 6-0, 6-0
6. Taylor Dimler (WC) def. Chris Voigt (S.J.) 6-2, 6-1