ZUROSKE NAMED TO ALL-NWC: After a 10-year stint without an All-Northwest Conference player on the men’s tennis team, the Boxers have made it two years in a row. Last season, Michael Okada was named to All-NWC Second Team. This season, freshman Troy Zuroske made an impact on the conference and was an All-NWC First Team selection.

“This is quite an accomplishment for Troy and the Boxer tennis team,” stated head coach Brian Jackson. “In only his first year as a Boxer, Troy has grown both on and off the court, and has led the program to a great season.”

Zuroske was one of two freshmen to be among the top 14 players in the conference. Over the season, Zuroske compiled an 11-5 singles record overall and an 8-2 conference record.

To start his freshman campaign, he won eight straight matches, including defeating Whitman’s Jeff Tolman on Feb. 20. He started the season going 4-0 in the No. 3 singles spot, moved up to the No. 2 spot and went 2-0. After improving to 6-0, Zuroske moved into the No. 1 position, where he remained the rest of the season, and collected a 5-5 record in the position after starting the year on an eight match win streak.

In doubles play, Zursoke teamed up with Spencer Hing at the No. 1 spot to acquire a 4-6 record against conference opponents and a 6-11 record overall.

Zuroske also earned NWC Men’s Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week on Mar. 8 after moving up to the No. 1 position and improving to 7-0.

FULLY LOADED: Going into the season, head coach Brian Jackson’s expectations were high. It was his fourth season, he had a full squad, senior leadership and a mixture of experience and talent. He wanted his team to be a conference contender. And they were.

For the first time since 1991, the team tallied at least eight wins in a season. The Boxers were 8-10 overall and 7-5 in the Northwest Conference play. Pacific finished fourth in the conference standings and qualified for the NWC Tournament for the first time since 2004.

The route to the eight wins was not any easy one. Jackson loaded the schedule with several nationally ranked opponents, including Whitman, Williams and Trinity (Conn.) and Division I Oregon. He put a challenge in front of his players and they responded with one of the best records in Pacific tennis history.

USING THE DEPTH: Not only did head coach Brian Jackson have his first senior class, but he also had his largest roster in his time at Pacific. With 16 players on the roster the Boxers could mix up the line-up at any given match to produce the best match-ups in order to win.

Using this strategy, 14 players played at least one match in singles play and 12 played in a doubles match. Every one of the 16 players contributed in at least one match.

BUILDING CONSISTENCY: Troy Zuroske, Spencer Hing and Michael Okada were the Boxers threat in the top three positions. Adjustments were made throughout the season to end with Zuroske in the No. 1 spot, Hing at No. 2 and Okada at No. 3.

All three played 16 singles matches this season. Zuroke compiled the team best record going 11-5 and 8-2 against NWC opponents. Hing and Okada were both 3-13 overall and 2-8 in conference play.

Eric Furuya, Derek Cooley, Alen Suklje and Scott Kawamura filled in the bottom three spots for Pacific at different times throughout the season.

Furuya played anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6, but saw himself playing a majority of his matches at No. 6 as he collected a 6-7 overall record and a 4-3 conference record. Cooley also filled many roles for the Boxers from the No. 3 to No. 6 positions and acquired a 6-9 record, going 5-5 in conference play. Suklje was 6-4 overall and 6-3 in NWC play mainly playing the No. 5 position for the Boxers, while Kawamura saw most of his matches in the No. 4 spot and was 2-7 overall and 1-3 against NWC opponents.

In doubles play, Kawamura and Okada collected the most wins for Pacific going 9-8 and 7-3 against conference teams in the No. 2 flight. In the No. 3 spot, Patrick Kinghorn and Suklje combined for an 8-10 record and 7-3 in NWC play, while Zuroske and Hing compiled a 6-11 record and a 4-6 conference record in the No. 1 spot.

FAREWELL SENIORS: Pacific will bid farewell to four seniors this season, Patrick Kinghorn, Jeffery Lee, Nhat Nguyen and Michael Okada.

Kinghorn was a leader for the Boxers in doubles play and collected a 26-44 doubles record and 6-25 singles record over his four years. Lee compiled a 5-16 singles record and 1-8 doubles record over his time as a Boxer and Nguyen went 17-27 in singles play and 15-26 doubles play. Okada was a All-NWC Second Team selection in 2010 and was named NWC Student-Athlete of the Week once in his career, while compiling a 20-49 singles record and a 25-44 doubles record.