TACOMA – Pacific Lutheran took two of the doubles matches and three of the first five overall, but Whitworth closed out the afternoon with four straight singles victories to claim the 6-3 Northwest Conference men's tennis win against the Lutes on Saturday at Sprinker Recreation Center.

Pacific Lutheran fell to 1-5 both overall and in NWC play with the loss, while Whitworth improved to 5-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference. The Lutes head to California next weekend for their spring break trip, where they will take on five nonconference opponents, beginning with a match against Caltech at 10 a.m. on March 22.

"We came out strong and felt like we had some momentum, but you have to give Whitworth credit for sticking in there and grinding out some key matches down at the bottom of the ladder," PLU head coach Rocky Poulin said. "That proved the difference."

After Whitworth opened the day with a doubles victory, the Lutes came through with wins in the next two doubles matches. Jake Yannello and Spencer Herron teamed up to take down John Talbot and Drew Adams 8-3, and Sam Stadter and James Okubo picked up a close 9-7 win over Blake Miller and Matt Goebel.

Whitworth's Drew Brigham won the opening singles match, but Stadter put PLU up 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Chris Engelmann in the second singles match. Unfortunately for the Lutes, Whitworth went on to win the next four matches and claim the overall match title.