SALEM, ORE. -- Senior men's tennis player Eric MacMillan (Twin Falls, ID/Twin Falls HS) of Willamette University has been named First Team All-Northwest Conference for the 2008 season, as chosen by the NWC head coaches. MacMillan was one of eight athletes named to the First Team, with six players receiving Second Team recognition.
MacMillan was 14-5 in singles, including 13-5 at the #1 position. He achieved a 10-5 record in singles during NWC regular season action. He was 8-11 in doubles, including 6-9 in NWC play.
He finished his Willamette career by winning his last eight singles matches, including two wins against Josh Steele of Whitworth University and a win over Matt Solomon of Whitman College, who was chosen NWC Player of the Year. MacMillan was 1-1 against Solomon this spring, with both matches going three sets.
MacMillan went 3-0 in singles at the NWC Tournament to help the Bearcats reach the third place match. In the first round, he defeated Steele in straights, 6-3, 6-4, as Willamette defeated Whitworth, 5-4. The Bearcats lost to the Pirates twice during the regular season by 5-4 margins.
In the semifinals, MacMillan edged Solomon, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, but Willamette fell to Whitman, 6-3. Linfield College defeated Willamette, 6-3, in the third place match, but MacMillan downed Nick Ruess, 6-1, 6-4, at #1 singles.
Willamette claimed a pair of close victories in key regular season NWC matches. The Bearcats rallied past Linfield, 5-4, on Feb. 17 and narrowly defeated the University of Puget Sound, 5-4, on March 8. MacMillan won #1 singles in both of those matches.
2008 All-Northwest Conference Men's Tennis Team
First Team
Matt Solomon, Whitman (So.)
Eric MacMillan, Willamette (Sr.)
Jamie Hosmer, Puget Sound (Jr.)
Nick Ruess, Linfield (Jr.)
Kevin Floyd, Pacific Lutheran (So.)
Justin Larimore, Pacific Lutheran (Sr.)
Dan Solomon, Whitman (Jr.)
George Allen, Lewis & Clark (So.)
Second Team
Chris Bailey, Whitman (Fr.)
Kyle Anderson, Linfield (So.)
Josh Steele, Whitworth (So.)
Jake Cappel, Whitman (So.)
Justin Peterson, Pacific Lutheran (So.)
Michael Manser, Pacific Lutheran (So.)
Eric MacMillan was named First Team All-NWC with a 14-5 singles record.
