McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield earned a hard-fought 6-3 victory over visiting Whitworth in a Northwest Conference women's tennis match on Friday evening.
The Wildcats, ranked 9th in the West Region and 37th nationally, improved to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the NWC. The Pirates, ranked 12th in the region, fell to 6-6, 5-3.
Linfield jumped ahead 2-1 after doubles. Saryn Mooney and Bella Hoyos earned the Pirates' doubles point with an 8-2 win over Basia Kopecka and Courtney Hammagren at #2. Taylor Peña and Jennifer Adams fell 8-2 at #1 doubles, while KC McConnell and Caylee Lamm lost 8-3 at #3.
Three of the singles matches went more than two sets and Whitworth was able to pull out two of those. Hoyos defeated Kopecka 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 at #2 singles to improve to 11-1 this season. Annabelle Burns rallied to defeat Marissa Kume 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9) at #5 singles. But Linfield's team victory had already been decided at that point.
Adams dropped a three-set decision to Marissa Doveri 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 at #4 singles that clinched the match in Linfield's favor. Ella Riddle beat Peña 6-1, 6-2 at the top of the ladder.
Whitworth will conclude its trip to Oregon with matches at Lewis & Clark (10am) and Pacific (5:00 pm) on Saturday.
