By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's tennis team will close the regular season with a pair of key matches on the road this weekend. The Pirates visit Lewis & Clark on Saturday at 10:00 before heading to Tacoma to battle Puget Sound on Sunday at 11:00 am.
A win over Lewis & Clark would clinch Whitworth's second consecutive Northwest Conference Tournament appearance. Check the women's tennis schedule for live updates on all the weekend's action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (9-8 overall, 6-6 Northwest Conference) split its final two matches at Scotford Tennis Center last weekend.
The Pirates swept Linfield 7-0 on Saturday. The Wildcats were short-handed and only four athletes competed, giving Whitworth two default wins. The Bucs took both doubles matches and won each singles match in dominant fashion. Faith Kert won her sixth consecutive singles match and Olivia Corbett earned a 6-0, 6-0 match sweep.
On Sunday, Whitworth fell 5-2 to George Fox. The Pirates claimed the doubles point with a pair of wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 matches. Kert and Gracie Smyley swept the top Bruin pair 6-0. GFU took five of six singles matches. Smyley earned the lone Pirate singles win in the top position 6-4, 6-4. Kert battled to a third set tiebreaker but could not come out on top.
The Opponents: Lewis & Clark hosts Whitworth with an 8-9 overall record and 6-6 conference record. Last weekend, the Pioneers earned a 6-1 win over Puget Sound and swept an exhibition match against Bellevue College. Junior Susanna Anand and sophomore Charlotte Makoni lead the way as the top L&C players. Anand has a 6-7 record in the No. 1 singles position while Makoni is 4-0 in the top spot and 1-5 in the No. 2 position. The pair is 6-5 this season as the top doubles duo. The Pirates defeated the Pioneers 5-2 on March 8th in Spokane.
Puget Sound has a 3-11 record on the season and a 3-10 mark in conference play. The Loggers fell 6-1 to Lewis & Clark before defeating Spokane Community College 7-0 last weekend. Sophomore Kaylee Yamada is the No. 1 singles player for UPS and pairs with senior Paige Shinall in the No. 1 doubles position. Shinall competes in the No. 2 position for the Loggers. Whitworth holds an eight-match win streak over UPS, including a 7-0 weep in Spokane on March 9th.
NWC Standings: Whitman remains atop the conference standings with a 11-1 record. George Fox is second at 10-1 and Pacific is in third (9-3). Whitworth (6-6) and Lewis & Clark (6-6) battle for the fourth NWC Tournament spot while Puget Sound (3-9), Willamette (2-8) and Linfield (1-10) 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 97-93 during her tenure, including a 61-45 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: The NWC Women's Tennis Tournament will take place on April 19th and 20th, hosted by the first-place team.
