Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier
College men's tennis team dropped their final regular season
matchup against the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University who are
ranked No. 5 in the nation.
Whittier finishes the regular season 12-9, 2-4 SCIAC but look to
make another push during the SCIAC Championships set to take place
on May 4 and 5 hosted by Redlands University.
The Purple & Gold got down early 3-0 after doubles despite
getting a strong performance from the No. 3 doubles pairing of
freshman Matthew
Herron and Shogo
Shimizu who were unable to capitalize late to pull
even in the match, ultimately falling 8-6.
Going into singles competition down 3-0 against a team like Cal
Lutheran is a daunting task for any team and they proved why they
are No. 5 nationally as they took five of six singles matches in
straight sets.
At No. 1, junior Julian
Seneviratne had his hands full with Nick Ballou who is
ranked No. 14 nationally falling 6-0, 6-4, while Justin Wilson
avenged his two losses from last year to Patricio
Carregha winning in straight sets Saturday morning
6-4, 6-3.
Whittier's lone win came at No. 6 singles where Shimizu pulled
out a three setter over a fellow Weil Tennis Academy Player in
Marcelo Sousa. Shimizu cruised to the 6-0 victory in the
first set but dropped the second set 6-4 before pulling off the
10-5 win the third set super tiebreaker.
The Poets now begin preparing for the Ojai Championships which
will take place this coming week on April 27 and 28 in Oxnard,
Calif.
Singles
#14 Nick Ballou (CLU) def. Julian Seneviratne (WC) 6-0, 6-4
2. Justin Wilson (CLU) def. Patricio Carregha (WC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Ray Worley (CLU) def. Chris
Schommer (WC) 6-1, 6-0
4. Connor Treacy (CLU) def. Matthew Herron (WC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Thomas Millet (CLU) def. Andrew
Hansen (WC) 6-4, 6-1
6. Shogo Shimizu (WC) def. Marcelo Sousa (CLU) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0
(10-5)
Doubles
1. #2 Nick Ballou/Ray Worley (CLU) def. Julian
Seneviratne/Patricio Carregha (WC) 8-4
2. Justin Wilson/Connor Treacy (CLU) def. Andrew Hansen/Chris
Schommer (WC) 8-2
3. Thomas Millet/Marcelo Sousa (CLU) def. Matthew Herron/Shogo
Shimizu (WC) 8-6
