Union-Bulletin

FOREST GROVE, Ore. - The Whitman College men's tennis team registered its 12th straight victory with a 9-0 Northwest Conference shutout of Pacific University Tuesday afternoon in Forest Grove, Ore.

Whitman, which won 11 straight last spring as part of a 24-5 season, heads next to California for a string of four Spring Break matches, starting on Sunday against Pomona-Pitzer in Santa Cruz. Pomona-Pitzer is No. 5 in the latest West Region rankings, two spots in front of Whitman.

Tuesday's victory marked Whitman's seventh NWC victory in the last five days.

Now 13-1 on the season and 12-0 in the NWC, Whitman is on track for its fourth consecutive undefeated NWC regular season.

As Whitman's latest victim, Pacific dropped to 3-8 in conference and 4-9 on the season.

In a departure from the routine, Tuesday's match started with singles.

Senior Matt Solomon, who was named NWC Student-Athlete of the Week earlier in the day, rolled over Pacific's Michale Okada by a 6-1, 6-1 count at No. 1 singles.

Freshman Jeffrey Tolman beat Spencer Hing 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, and junior Chris Bailey stormed past Eric Furuya 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3.

Sam Sadeghi, also a freshman, got the call at No. 5 singles and responded with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Boxer freshman Michael Furuya.

Sophomore Conor Holton-Burke at No. 4 and senior Thomas Roston at No. 6 added dominating victories. Both playes won 6-1, 6-0.

In No. 1 doubles, Solomon and junior Quin Miller were 8-2 winners over Hing and Hector Alcayde. Tolman teamed with senior Jeff Cappel at No. 2 for an 8-6 victory over Okada and Eric Furuya.

Roston and Holton-Burke completed the sweep with an 8-2 win at No. 3.