Burghart’s singles win clinches Eastern Washington victory

With the outcome of the college tennis meet in his hands, Rendell Burghart of Anchorage probably should have been unnerved by the pressure of the moment.

Yet he wasn’t.

He trusted his strokes and wound up sweeping his singles match to clinch Eastern Washington’s 5-4 win over Northern Colorado in NCAA D1 tennis action.

“I preach every day they always have to give their best, so they can some time play their best and one time be the best, and today, Rendell got the call to play and came through,” Eastern coach Steve Clark told the school’s website.

Burghart, of Dimond High fame, beat Alex Clerihew 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6 singles.

“I was pretty pumped after winning,” he told me. “I think that I have been playing pretty well lately.”

Two days later, he was promoted to No. 5 singles against North Dakota and won 7-6, 6-4 in another 4-3 Eastern win.

The 6-foot- junior improved his singles record to 3-1 this year.

“I supposed that the key to my game is fighting as hard as I can for every point and running down everything I can,” Burghart said.