With a match win against Pacific Lutheran University, Pacific University Men’s Tennis is off to a 3-0 start to the season. The previous match wins were in the fall against Willamette University and University of California Santa Cruz.
The Boxers have been very successful in all of their matches as they beat Willamette 8-1 and saw a lot of success in both singles and doubles. For singles, freshmen Quentin Gonzales and Reece Parr won in the first two sets. The doubles saw a lot of success winning right away. The doubles consisted of Koby Murata and Rayden Murata, Joey Hu and Reyn Miyagawa, as well as Sean Murphy and Griffen Fraser.
The matches against UC Santa Cruz went very similarly, as the Boxers beat the nationally ranked Banana Slugs 7-2 and finished the fall 2-0.
The matches against UC Santa Cruz propelled the Boxers into the national spotlight as they became nationally ranked heading into the spring season. They were ranked 40th in the nation by Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division III Tennis.
The Boxers held this reputation in their spring season opener against Pacific Lutheran and Bellevue Community College, as they won both matches 9-0. This resulted in all singles matches won in just two sets as the group dominated. The biggest match wins were from Joey Hu, Garret Katayama and Joey Balleweg.
Women’s tennis is also looking to have a triumphant season. They started the fall season in Salem, Ore., where they faced Willamette, George Fox University, and Linfield College. The tournament went well for the Boxers, even though it ended with a 6-3 loss to Willamette. The matches were close and the team is looking forward to the upcoming spring season, starting on Feb. 23 where the Boxers will face Highline Community College.
They are led by two seniors, Chantelle Baclay and Marissa Hayashi, who compete in both doubles and singles. The women’s team also has a new fitness coach this year, and are already seeing the positive results because of the intense workouts.
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