YAKIMA, Wash. - The Whitworth men's tennis team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win 5-4 against Puget Sound in the 5th-6th place match at the NWC Tennis Tournament in Yakima, Washington. The Pirates take fifth place overall in the NWC and finish with a record of 7-16.

Click here for the NWC Tournament web site . The site includes tournament schedules/results, brackets and directions.

After losing to 3rd-seeded Linfield 9-0 in the first round on Friday, 6th-seeded Whitworth took on 4th-seeded UPS on Saturday. The Loggers had been beaten by 5th-seeded Willamette in the first round.

Carlson won twice against Puget Sound

UPS took its 2-1 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. Michael Carlson and Scott Donnell teamed to win 8-5 at #2 doubles, a point that would ultimately prove crucial.

Ed Anegon won the first set, but lost his #1 singles match 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. Likewise, Scott Bourne pushed his opponent to three sets at #4 singles before losing 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. The Pirates gained straight sets wins by Donnell at #2 singles (7-6, 6-3), Carlson at #3 singles (6-0, 6-2) and Austin Abelar at #6 singles (6-2, 6-0). The match ultimately came down to #5 singles where Curran Scott pulled out a 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 win for the Bucs.

Whitworth's only seniors among the starting six are Michael Carlson and Colin Storm (who played #6 singles in the Linfield match). The strong returning nucleus gives the Pirates much to build on for 2007.