SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's tennis will be on the road this weekend against Willamette on Saturday and Pacific on Sunday, looking to build on a nice start to Northwest Conference play.

Check the scheduling page for live updates and scores.

The Pirates: Whitworth (5-4, 3-1 NWC) built some momentum at home last weekend with a pair of 5-4 victories over Linfield and Lewis & Clark. It marks Whitworth's best start to conference play since 2021 where they began 4-1.

At Linfield on Saturday, the Pirates took the first two doubles matches as #2 Audrey Judson and Oliver Paige dominated in an 8-1 win and #3 Meredith Bedford and Jordan Turner-Esposito won 8-3. In singles, #1 Gracie Smyley beat Sarah Forester 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. #4 Turner-Esposito got the fourth win of the match in two sets (6-3, 6-3) and with the match hanging in the balance at 4-4, it was #6 Judson who beat Lisa Ponti 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-0 to claim the win for Whitworth. On Sunday in Portland, the Pirates again took two of three in doubles as Turner-Esposito and Bedford got their second win of the weekend together before #1 Smyley and Todd outlasted L&C's top duo 8-6. To kick off singles, #3 Budge knocked off Emma Loucks 6-2, 6-1. Whitworth lost the next two matches before #4 Turner-Esposito finished a perfect 4-0 weekend with a thrilling 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Arielle Bloom. With the match still on the line, #5 Todd clinched the Pirate win handling Hayley Kreps in two sets 6-0, 7-6 (7-2).

Turner-Esposito and Bedford were 2-0 as a duo last weekend, they're 3-0 on the season. Smylie holds a record of 4-3 in the #1 slot, and Turner-Esposito is now 4-2 riding a two-match win streak. The Pirates are sitting third in the conference standings heading into this weekend trailing Whitman and George Fox who are both 3-0.

The Opponents: Willamette (3-5, 1-2 NWC) lost 9-0 to Lewis & Clark on Saturday but recovered to beat Puget Sound 5-4 on Sunday for their first conference win. Before Sunday's win, Willamette had lost 9-0 in three straight matches, but the win has vaulted them into a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings. The Bearcats number one is Richelle Suzuki, their number two is Alexa de Crinis, Willamette is coached by Tyler Linscott who's in his third year with the program.

Pacific (4-2, 1-0 NWC) has looked solid in the early going, the Boxers knocked off Puget Sound 8-1 on Sunday in their conference opener and lost to George Fox 5-4 in what counted as non-conference. Pacific is led by Cassidy and Sydnie Binder who have manned the top two singles slots this season and played together in the top doubles spot. The Boxers are coached by Traci Binder who's in her ninth season at Pacific. Whitworth has won the last six matches against Pacific, and 17 of the last 18.

Looking ahead: Whitworth will fly to Orlando for spring break, they'll take on SUNY New Paltz, Augustana, Kalamazoo, and St. Olaf on March 25-28.