THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's tennis secured its first home victory of the spring season on Wednesday night, dominating Linfield from start to finish. The Kingsmen swept the match 7-0, their third sweep of the year.
After returning home from Texas on February 17, Cal Lutheran held a record of 4-2. A rough month ensued, as the Kingsmen entered today still searching for their first win since then. The match against Linfield offered a chance at redemption after Cal Lutheran lost on the road to the Wildcats in February 2024 in a grueling match that saw four singles tiebreaks. Linfield took that match 5-4.
Kicking off the doubles matches were the Kingsmen duos of
Ethan Sherwood/
Loup Sudre,
Raphael Simon/
Maciej Gawronski, and
Frederick Otto/
Andy Ai. Each of the three partnerships cruised to their victories by scores of 6-1, 6-3, and 6-3, respectively. Cal Lutheran would enter singles up 1-0 after claiming the doubles team point.
Five Kingsmen won their singles matches in straight sets, securing the team victory quite early in the evening. Out of the #1 spot, Sherwood easily handled his opponent 6-1, 6-2. This was Sherwood's first singles victory since beating a ranked opponent in Texas in mid-February, as he looks to regain the momentum he had at the start of the season.
In the #3 spot, Simon dominated 6-2, 6-1 for his fourth singles win in 2025. He went 1-1 in Cal Lutheran's home matches last week and now finishes the non-conference schedule on a high note.
Ai won 6-3, 6-3 in the #4 spot for the Kingsmen, returning to the high-level play that he showed on the Texas trip in which he went 4-0. Otto defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-4 out of the #5 spot for his second consecutive victory. The match before that, Otto lost in a close tiebreak, so he has been playing well for Cal Lutheran as of late.
Jake Anderson was called upon to compete in the #6 spot and he delivered, completely controlling the match to a score of 6-1, 6-1. He has only played three singles matches this season, but he has won all three of them decisively. Tonight marked his first singles appearance since Texas.
The only Kingsmen player to make things interesting was Sudre in the #2 spot, as he went to a third-set tiebreak with his opponent. It was an exhilarating tiebreak set with quality shots being made by both Sudre and his counterpart. In the end, Sudre was able to overcome the test and won 6-3, 4-6, (9-7). This marked his third consecutive three-set victory, as Sudre plays his best under pressure and embraces the big moments.
Cal Lutheran moves to 4-6 on the year as it enters the remainder of SCIAC play. The Kingsmen will host Chapman this Saturday, March 29 at 10am.
