WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Whitworth men's tennis season came to an end following a 5-0 loss to Whitman in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference tournament on Saturday at the Whitman Tennis Courts.
The 4th-seeded Pirates finished the year 12-8 while top-seeded Whitman improved to 18-8 and will advance to Sunday's tournament championship.
Whitman swept the three doubles matches to grab a quick lead. The closest of the three came at #2 doubles where Zach Hewlin and Phillip Locklear topped Whitworth's Shane Sandlin and Caleb Hughes 8-4. Sandlin and Hughes ended the season with a 16-4 record as a doubles pair.
The Pirates were unable to gain any traction once singles started. Gary Ho shut out Drew Adams 6-0, 6-0 at #4 singles to move Whitman to the brink of a team win. Then Chase Friedman finished off Layne Ryerson at #3 singles to clinch the win.
The rest of the singles matches ended at that point. None of the Pirates had won a set, but Drew Brigham had lost the opening set to Hewlin 6-4 at #1 singles. And Hughes had only lost 7-5 to Adam Rapaport at #6 singles in the first set.
