Men’s tennis rocky start against UPS

Having lost all three matches this past weekend to conference opponents, the men’s tennis team has quickly dug themselves into a hole.

Playing at home on Friday against Puget Sound, the Pioneers fell 6-3 to the Loggers, unable to capitalize on singles wins from George Allen (’10) and Dirk Frouws (’11). In doubles competition, Allen and Frouws also had an impressive victory over the Loggers’ #1 duo, but the Pios dropped the other two matches.

The next day, Pacific Lutheran swept the Pioneer men, taking all 9 competitions. The Pios played considerably well in the double matches, with Luke Wheeler (’09) and Adam Rager (’11) falling just 8 to 5. Rager continued with solid play during singles, taking two separate matches beyond the 5th set, but still he fell short.

Things did not get much better on Sunday either, as Whitworth took all but one doubles competition. The combination of Allen and Frouws proved to be victorious again, though, as the two took down their opponents 8 to 5. Allen put up a good fight in singles play, winning the first set against Brian Elliot, but the Pirates’ #1 rebounded with consecutive victories.

The weekend’s results were disappointing, but not a complete shock. “We didn’t really know what to expect coming into this weekend, having not played these teams,” said Matthias Kullowatz (’09), who fell 8-4 in doubles competition along with Rager against Whitworth. Still, the team has a lot of season left to play, “We expect to beat Pacific and George Fox this weekend,” Kullowatz added.

George Fox and Pacific are also winless thus far this season, and should provide the Pio men a valuable opportunity to rebound. Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran, perennial contenders in the Northwest Conference, hold the #1 and #3 spots right now at 5-0 and 3-1, respectively.

Both of this weekend’s games will be played away, with Pacific on Friday and George Fox on Sunday.