Union-Bulletin

LEWISTON - Lewis-Clark State, ranked No. 16 nationally in the NAIA, needed all of its considerable international experience to get past Whitman College by a 6-3 count in a men's tennis match here Sunday.

The Warriors, improving to 4-2 on the season, took an early 3-0 lead by sweeping a trio of close matches in doubles.

Whitman, ranked No. 19 nationally in NCAA Division III, counterpunched with a string of three-set victories in the top three matches in singles.

Conor Holton-Burke, a Whitman junior, was a winner at No. 1 singles, scoring a 7-6, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Anders Tischer from Gruenberg, Germany.

Freshman Andrew La Cava got the win at No. 2 with a 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Ivan Krijantro from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Senior Etienne Moshevich also bounced back from a first-set setback at No. 3 singles, knocking off Cesar Uauy from Santiago, Chile, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Viktor Svoboda from Kamenice, Czech Republic, won for Lewis-Clark State in two close sets at No. 4 singles, slipping past Whitman sophomore Jeff Tolman 7-5, 6-4.

Whitman senior Chris Bailey at No. 5 and sophomore Sam Sadeghi at No. 6 dropped their matches by the same 6-2, 6-4 scores. Bailey lost to Benjamin Robert from Noumea, New Caledonia, while Sadeghi came up short against Oliver Stone Sindayigaya.

In No. 1 doubles, Holton-Burke and La Cava fell 8-6 to Tischer and Tyler Oram. At No. 2, Moshevich and Tolman lost 9-7 to Svoboda and Benjamin.

Senior Quin Miller and sophomore Matt Tesmond played at No. 3 doubles for Whitman, losing 8-5 to Uauy and Lincoln Gay.

The two teams also played and split two exhibition matches in singles.

Oram bested Whitman junior Adriel Borshansky 8-4 at No. 7 while Missionary freshman Steven Roston was a winner by the same score at No. 8, beating Jeff Lowndes.

Whitman, which notched a 5-4 victory over Lewis-Clark State last season, opened its non-conference slate last month with a loss at NCAA Division I Eastern Washington University.

The Missionaries now turn their attention to Northwest Conference play.

Whitman, the defending three-time NWC champion, plays matches next Sunday at Pacific and George Fox. A single match follows the next day at Willamette.

The Missionaries host their home openers on Feb. 26 against Lewis & Clark and Linfield.