By Samantha Lund, Sports Information Student Writers

Salem, Ore. – The Pacific Lutheran men's tennis team suffered a tough 4-5 loss against Willamette on Sunday.

The Lutes began the afternoon strong, taking two of the first three doubles matches. At one, James Okubo and DJ Pekoc took an 8-3 loss but were followed up by two close wins. Jeremy Marsh and Noel Oteng-Mensah stepped up in the two spot, getting a close 9-7 win. Chan Thourk and Justin deMattos gave PLU a second 9-7 win, bringing the Lutes up 2-1 going into singles.

The Lutes and the Bearcats were very evenly matched throughout singles as well. At one, Oteng-Mensah took a loss to Willamette's Blake Brash after forcing him to extra points in the second set, ending with a 6-3, 7-5 loss.

Marsh also had a close match at two with the final score coming down to extra points. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, Marsh lost the second but forced his opponent to a third set tiebreaker, eventually losing 7-6, 1-6, 6-7.

Okubo stepped up in the three spot, giving PLU their first singles win with a 6-2, 7-5 final score.

"[Okubo] had one of his best wins of the year, if not his entire PLU career this afternoon," Head Coach John Cassens said. "It showed his hard work is really paying off."

Thourk also brought home a singles win for the Lutes, beating Willamette's Jesse Mackinney with a quick 6-3, 6-3.  However, with two more losses at four and five, the Lutes couldn't finish off the win.

"It was a very close match," Cassens said. "It was all decided with a tiebreaker."

ON TAP FOR THE LUTES…

Next weekend, the Lutes host two home matches at Sprinker Recreation Center.  On Saturday, the match against Linfield is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.  On Sunday, the Lutes host Lewis and Clark with the match scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.