George Fox Men’s Tennis Makes History Against Division I Competition

By: Elijah Dapkus

For most Division III athletic teams, scheduling Division I (D1) competition is like staring down the barrel of a loaded rifle. Not for George Fox University (GFU) Men’s Tennis.

To begin their Spring season, the Men’s Tennis team faced three straight D1 opponents. They finished that stint with a 2-1 record, taking 11 of 21 total sets.

Their first match against Portland State University (PSU) took place at the Tualatin Hills Babette Horenstein Tennis Center on Feb. 11. Vahag Pashayan and Camden Camacho showed no fear and took the first doubles set, 6-1. Luke Lemaitre and Will Leach, who regularly vie for the number one spot on the team, scored a 6-3 doubles set victory and clinched the doubles match point to boost the Bruins to an early 1-0 lead. Lemaitre and Camacho won the first two singles flights for GFU, and Pashayan formally clinched the team victory with a 6-2, 6-3 match win. Leach won his singles match in dramatic fashion, roaring to a 16-14 tiebreak set victory and settling the team score at 5-2.

Camden Camacho and Vahag Pashayan photographed by Beth Merritt.

Luke Lemaitre photographed by Naji Saker.

Next, the Bruins returned home for their second match of the spring against Seattle University (SU) on February 18th. SU entered the match with a 3-9 record including two wins over D1 opponents. In a hotly contested sequence, Pashayan and Camacho swung lights-out to clinch the doubles point, scoring one for the Bruins. Singles matchups exhibited similarly competitive matches. With the team score knotted up at 2-2, Lemaitre took down his opponent in straight sets. Camacho stepped up and won his match in 6-3, 6-3 sets to formally clinch a 4-3 team final and avenge the previous year’s 2-5 loss at SU.

GFU’s only D1 loss came February 25th when challenging Montana University (UM), who flaunted a 6-0 record coming into the match, including four wins over D1 competition and two over Northwest Conference (NWC) teams.

Although some Bruins lost matches, those results hardly reflect their effort. At PSU, Luis Rojas and Rox Rogers won three games in their doubles set, and Rojas took his singles opponent to a tiebreak set. Meanwhile against SU, Pashayan nearly staged an incredible comeback in his third singles set before succumbing to cramps and cold weather, still only dropping the set 5-7.

Luis Rojas photographed by Beth Merritt..

The Bruins’ 2-0 start was their best as a team since the 2017-18 season. Their triumphs over PSU and SU were their first two wins over D1 opponents in school history, and the first two non-eSports team victories over DI competition by any GFU sports team since at least 2009. Previously, the Bruins had 0-4 records against both opponents.

NWC coaches ranked Pacific University (PAC) second in their pre-season poll, behind only GFU. PSU, SU, and UM all faced PAC in close proximity to their matches against GFU. PAC lost each tilt by scores of 3-4, 3-6, and 1-6, respectively. Additionally, PSU made a speed bump out of NWC fourth-ranked Lewis and Clark in a 7-0 shutout, and UM shut down NWC third-ranked Whitman College and fifth-ranked Whitworth University 7-0 each. While transitivity rarely applies in sports and truly anything can happen, these results signify that the Bruins should take control of the NWC early and often.

If you look forward to the exciting conclusion of GFU Men’s Tennis’ season, be sure to check out their full schedule or catch their home match live streams.