By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's tennis team will play a split schedule this weekend. The Pirates begin the second half of Northwest Conference play with a match at Whitman on Saturday at 1:00 pm before hosting Lewis-Clark St. College on Sunday at 11:00 am.
Check the women's tennis schedule for live updates on all the weekend's action.
The Pirates: Whitworth advanced to 4-3 in conference play (4-4 overall) after two wins in Spokane last weekend.
The Pirate women defeated Lewis & Clark 5-2 on Saturday. For the second time this season, the Bucs swept the doubles matches to claim the first match point. Faith Kert earned her second win of the season (6-1, 6-3) and Paige Oliver got it done in the No. 3 position 7-5, 6-2. Gracie Smyley dropped her first set in the No. 1 match, but fought back to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 three-set win. Audrey Judson rounded out the Whitworth scoring with a 6-1, 6-4 win.
On Sunday, the Pirates cruised to a 7-0 win over Puget Sound, their first sweep of the season. Whitworth again won each doubles match. Gracie Smyley and Faith Kert earned their fifth straight win as the No. 1 doubles pairing. Each singles match was won in two sets. Smyley extended her winning streak to six and now has a 7-1 singles record on the season. Jordan Turner-Esposito and Morgan McArthur each won their first singles matches of the season. Whitworth has now beaten Puget Sound in eight straight matches.
The Opponents: Whitman hosts Whitworth with an 8-2 overall record and 7-1 mark in conference play. The Blues are on a six-match winning streak and swept their last four opponents. Junior Teleya Blunt has a 5-3 record in the No. singles spot and will come into a likely matchup with Gracie Smyley on a three-match winning streak. Blunt has paired with Jin Yu for five doubles matches as the Whitman top duo. Senior Ilina Jha is 5-0 from the No. 2 position. The Blues have won four consecutive matches over the Pirates, including a 6-1 win on February 15th. The last Whitworth win coming on April 23rd, 2022.
Lewis-Clark St. College heads to Spokane with a 5-8 overall record. LC-St. is an NAIA school that competes in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Warriors are coming off an 0-3 weekend at the Texas Wesleyan Invitational in Arlington, Texas. Senior Beatriz Lambru plays in the No. 1 singles position and pairs with junior April Buckingham as the top doubles duo. Sophomore Rayana Shah competes in the No. 2 singles spot. Whitworth has not beaten LC-St. in their seven matches since 2022, including a 6-1 loss in Lewiston on February 8th.
NWC Standings: Whitman now sits atop the standings with a 7-1 conference record. George Fox is second at 6-1 and Pacific sits in third at 6-2. Whitworth (4-3) is alone in fourth with Willamette (2-3) two matches behind. Lewis & Clark dropped to 2-4 while Linfield (1-7), and Puget Sound (1-8) round out the standings.
The Coach: Rachel Aldridge is in her 11th year as Whitworth's head women's tennis coach after serving as an assistant from 2012-2014. The Pirates have a dual record of 92-89 during her tenure, including a 59-42 mark in Northwest Conference matches. Aldridge was a four-year standout player at Whitworth and earned first-team All-NWC honors each of her four years. She was selected by conference coaches as the NWC Sportswomen of the Year in 2011 and named NWC Player of the Year in 2011.
Looking ahead: Whitworth will head to Texas for a trio of non-conference matches. The Pirates visit LeTourneau on March 24th, East Texas Baptist on March 25th and Mary Hardin-Baylor on March 26th.
