CLU Sports

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The California Lutheran University men’s tennis team opened its 2008 campaign at home on Saturday morning with a resounding 8-1 victory over conference rival Occidental College. The Kingsmen concluded the day earning a 6-3 win over NAIA member Westmont College in the afternoon.

In the opening match against the Tigers, CLU swept all three doubles matches and gave up only seven games combined. The combination of Paul Wetterholm and Forrest Hunt cruised to an 8-3 win in the No. 1 doubles contest.

Wetterholm would go on to win the No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-3 and the top four Kingsmen would all win in straight sets. CLU’s Ryan Mattila edged OXY’s Mike Kuhn in a third set super-tiebreak 12-10 to pick up the eighth point.

Reid Fenning picked up the lone Tigers point in the No. 6 singles match defeating Jordan Culpepper in a third set super tie break, 10-4.

“That was a good win for us,” said 16th year Head Coach Mike Gennette. “Last season we split and they were both competitive matches and it goes to show where we're at to start the year.”

The CLU trio of doubles pairings would again sweep against Westmont to begin its second match of its doubleheader. Ryan Lassila and John Karsant won the No. 2 match 8-5 while teammates Culpepper and Payton Aarestead earned an 8-3 victory in the No. 3 contest.

Wetterholm and Hunt completed a perfect day by winning the No. 1 and No. 3 singles matches in straight sets, respectively. Mattila rallied back from a 0-6 first set to win the No. 5 match 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Westmont’s Ryan Lassila (2), Kent Stormans (4) AND Chris Hill (6) each won their respective matches to split the singles contests 3-3.

Cal Lutheran (2-0, 1-0 SCIAC) will play its first road match of the season against the defending conference champions Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Friday, February 15 at 2 p.m.

Occidental Results

Doubles

#1 Wetterholm/Hunt (CLU) def. Fenning/Kuhn (OXY) 8-3

#2 Lassila/ Karsant (CLU) def. Montgomery/Ikuta (OXY) 8-2

#3 Culpepper/Aarestad (CLU) def. Pastor/Sowers (OXY) 8-2

Singles

#1 Paul Wetterholm (CLU) def. Dan Ikuta (OXY) - 6-2, 6-3

#2 Ryan Lassila (CLU) def. Vic Sowers (OXY) - 6-2, 6-2

#3 Forrest Hunt (CLU) def. Stefan Pastor (OXY) - 6-1, 6-2

#4 Joe Lonergan (CLU) def. Alex Montgomery (OXY) - 6-3, 7-5

#5 Ryan Mattila(CLU) def. Mike Kuhn (OXY) - 6-1, 4-6, (12-10)

#6 Reid Fenning (OXY) def. Jordan Culpepper (CLU) - 6-3, 5-7, (10-4)

Westmont Results

Doubles

#1 Wetterholm/Hunt (CLU) def. Kalayjian/Godfrey (WEST) - 8-2

#2 Lassila/Karsant (CLU) def. Cooke/Stormans (WEST) - 8-5

#3 Culpepper/Aarestad (CLU) def. Shultz/Hill (WEST) - 8-3

Singles

#1 Paul Wetterholm (CLU) def. Kyle Godfrey (WEST) - 6-4, 6-3

#2 Aaron Cooke (WEST) def. Ryan Lassila(CLU) - 7-5, 6-4

#3 Forrest Hunt(CLU) def. Arthur Kalayjian (WEST) - 7-5, 7-5

#4 Kent Stormans (WEST) def. Joe Lonergan (CLU) - 6-4, 3-6, (15-13)

#5 Ryan Mattila(CLU) def. Marty Park (WEST) - 0-6, 6-3, 6-4

#6 Chris Hill (WEST) def. Jordan Culpepper (CLU) - 2-6, 6-1, 6-3