McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Pacific Lutheran men's tennis team opened the 2015 Northwest Conference season in good form Saturday, defeating Linfield 7-2 at Linfield Tennis Center.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 1-1 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play, while Linfield falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the NWC. The Lutes head to Portland Sunday to take on Lewis & Clark at 10 a.m.

"Our team came to play today," PLU head coach John Cassens said. "I'm very happy with the team's mental game playing in the wind."

PLU claimed five of six match wins in the singles round and picked up two of three in doubles competition. Sam Stadter topped the ladder with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ben McNair, and Sam Angel followed with a narrow 7-6, 7-5 win over Kelsey Rosborough.

James Okubo defeated Micah Roos 6-2, 6-4, and Noel Oteng-Mensah pulled out a 7-6, 7-6 battle against Lukas Kleinman. After Joel Trousdale defeated Alberto Leal 7-6, 6-1 in the number five match, Jeremy Marsh picked up the 7-6, 6-3 win over Liam Spearniak.

In the doubles round, Okubo and Stadter teamed up to defeat Rosborough and Kleinman 8-2. Linfield took the number two matchup, with McNair and Roos defeating Angel and Oteng-Mensah 8-5, but PLU claimed the close win at number three, with Marsh and Leal defeating Trousdale and Brewer 9-7.