TACOMA – Whitman showed why it is ranked No. 12 in NCAA Div. III Friday afternoon, defeating Pacific Lutheran 8-1 in Northwest Conference men's tennis action at Sprinker Recreation Center.

Pacific Lutheran falls to 1-4 overall and in conference play with the loss, while Whitman improves to 8-3 overall and 6-0 in the NWC. The Lutes return to action Saturday, hosting Whitworth in a 1 p.m. match at Sprinker.

"Whitman just proved to be too deep for us tonight," PLU head coach Rocky Poulin said. "We paddled as much as we could but couldn't close out points like we hoped to."

Whitman swept the doubles round, with the closest battle coming in the third matchup. Jacob Christensen and Jake Hoeger took down Sam Stadter and James Okubo 8-5 to give the Missionaries a 3-0 lead heading into the singles matches.

The Missionaries carried their strong play throughout the singles round before Jeremy Marsh made a strong season debut with a win over Christensen in the final singles matchup. Playing in his first competitive match this spring, the sophomore Marsh took down Christensen 6-4 and 6-2 to put PLU on the board and end any chances of a Whitman shutout.

"I commend our young team for battling a strong opponent today," Poulin said. "Jeremy just stayed mentally strong and loose down the stretch, and his strong baseline play made the difference in that match."