By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

EUGENE, Ore. -- Andrew Kabacy (Grad., Vancouver, WA/Skyview HS) and Quentin Nigbur (Sr., Newberg, OR/Newberg HS) of Willamette University won #1 doubles as the Bearcats took on the University of Oregon Club team on Saturday, Feb. 11. The U of O Club won the overall match 7-2.

Kabacy and Nigburg outlasted Hunter Leija and Mau Rovira from the U of O Club, 8-6, as the match got underway. Later, Andrew Kropp (Sr., Bend, OR/Summit HS) added a win for the Bearcats at #4 singles, as he defeated Aaron Gathrid in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

U of O took a 2-1 lead entering the singles matches by grabbing wins at #2 and #3 doubles. At #2 doubles, Lucky Schwarz and Ben Whitson downed Kropp and Velibor Mladenovic (Fy., Belgrade, Serbia), 8-3. In the #3 match, Gathrid and Cameron Truong edged out WU's team of Andre Lief (So., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage HS) and Luca Casano (Fy., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) in a tie-breaker, 8-7 (7-3).

Three singles matches were decided in super tie-breakers. At #1 singles, Leija rallied to defeat Kabacy, 1-6, 6-3, 10-8. The #3 singles match was won by Garret Laurie against Nigbur of Willamette, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. In #6 singles, Ariel Gomez from the U of O Club battled back for a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 victory over Lief.

At #2 singles, Rovira for the U of O Club defeated Mladenovic, 6-3, 6-2. The #5 singles competition went to Liam Burcham by a slim margin in both sets against Trey Allen (So., Tucson, AZ/BASIS Tucson North HS) of Willamette. Burcham won the match, 6-4, 7-5.

The Bearcats will host Bellevue College in an exhibition match at the WU Tennis Courts on Friday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. (PST) at the Salem Tennis and Swim Club.