Men’s Tennis Struggles in First Match of Season

Sara Levering, Staff Writer

The Linfield Wildcats had a preseason match in Seattle on Sunday afternoon against Seattle University, a Division I team.

The Wildcats were defeated 7-0, by Seattle who won all three doubles matches to take the doubles point, using Division I rules.

Tyler Linscott, ‘20, and veteran Ben McNair, ‘18, lost in a tiebreaker fashion 7-6(3). In the second doubles positions, Nathan Saragoza, ‘19, and Trent Prussing, ‘19, fell 6-3. And in the third doubles, a freshmen duo of Jose Luis Rojas, ‘20, and John Lutaaya, ‘20, dropped their match 6-2.

Linscott was in first position for the ‘Cats in singles falling 6-2, 6-4. Jacob Mangan, ‘19, lost with an identical score at number six singles.

“Despite losing the match, I liked the way we came out and competed in doubles today” said Coach Ben Belletto.

“We definitely looked like it was the first match of the season, but we’ll get a ton sharper as the season progresses” said Belletto.

“Today definitely felt like our first match, but luckily it was. It was great to get back into the swing of match play today!” echoed Mangan.

“We came out really strong at the start of doubles today. I think the main focus for this week will be carrying over the same energy into our singles matches,” said Mangan.

Next up, the Wildcats hope to bounce back on their own courts against Puget Sound on Saturday at 1pm and Sunday against George Fox also at 1pm.