SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's tennis got a big Northwest Conference win on Saturday, edging Linfield 5-4 in the Scotford Tennis Center.

The Pirates (4-4, 2-1 NWC) snapped a four-match losing streak against the Wildcats (2-4, 1-2 NWC) who'd not surrendered a point against Whitworth in those four years.

Today was a different story.

Whitworth took two of the three doubles matches as #1 Gracie Smyley and Clara Todd took down Linfield's top duo of Sarah Forester and Emily Tuttle 8-5, #3 Meredith Bedford and Jordan Turner-Esposito followed that with an 8-3 win to give the Pirates the early edge.

The match was not decided until the very end, as the score stayed even through five singles matches. #1 Smyley kicked things off with a win over Forester 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 before Linfield's #2 Tuttle and #3 Canubida beat Oliver Paige and Natalie Budge of Whitworth. #4 Turner-Esposito handled Alexis Garner 6-3, 6-3 to draw the Pirates within a win of the needed five points. #5 Todd fell short to Linfield's Samantha Baltz 6-1, 6-3.

With the match on the line, all eyes turned to #6 Audrey Judson and Lisa Ponti. Judson gave the Pirates the win as she defeated Ponti in a three-set thriller 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-0.

The Pirates host Lewis & Clark on Sunday as they seek to close out a weekend sweep and move up in the Northwest Conference standings.