Box Score

TACOMA, Wash. – What some expected to be a tense showdown turned into a rout as visiting Whitworth rolled to a 7-2 victory over Puget Sound on Saturday evening.

The Pirates improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the NWC while the Loggers dropped to 2-5, 0-2.  Whitworth will conclude its trip to Tacoma with a match at Pacific Lutheran on Sunday.

Whitworth swept the doubles matches, though two were particularly close.  Kyndal Locati and Gracie Smylie won 8-3 at #2 doubles over Rachel Heinke and Zoe Love in 44 minutes.  But the other two matches took nearly an hour.  Aleah Kert and Hannah Plank pulled out an 8-6 win at #1 doubles, while Jill Hughes and Grace Bethards won by the same score at #3.

The team victory was determined quickly when Paige Shinall retired from the #3 singles match against Smylie, who led 7-5 after the opening set.  Soon after Locati clinched the Pirates' win with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Heinke at #4 singles for a 5-0 lead.  Plank topped Avery Honaker 6-1, 6-3 to make it 6-0 in favor of Whitworth.  The Pirates got their seventh point when Bethards won 6-3, 6-1 at #6 singles. 

Puget Sound got a point at #1 singles when Andie Machida edged Kert 7-5, 7-6 (3).  The other point came at #5 singles where Love defeated Hughes 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) in the only match that went more than two sets.