By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University men's tennis squad is primed for a breakthrough 2026 campaign as the first match of the spring nears.
The Pirates, who finished last season with a 6-8 Northwest Conference record (6-14 overall), have missed out on the NWC Tournament by just one place in the standings each of the last five years. Third year head coach Daniel Redfern believes this is the year the streak ends.
"Our confidence is definitely high going into the season that we'll finish in the top 4 this year and get a shot at the conference tournament," Redfern said.
Much of that confidence comes from the experience gained by a very young 2025 team that had four freshmen in the starting lineup. Each of those players, who tallied 30 of the team's 46 singles wins, will return in 2026 and "with a year of experience playing college tennis, they're feeling great heading into the season," said Redfern.
Sophomore Matthew Morrison and senior Henry Preacher will likely return to the top of the singles lineup. Morrison played all 19 of his singles matches in the No.1 position and finished with a 7-12 record last season. Despite battling injuries, Preacher finished the season 6-2 overall and 5-0 against NWC opponents in the No. 2 position.
Ryan Ashey and junior Matt Froslan are poised to join Morrison and Preacher as a mix of the top doubles pairings. Sophomores Matt Hossack and Easton Weir will push to make big impacts as well in both singles and doubles.
The incoming group of first-year Pirates includes transfer Dalton Polesky and freshmen Colebrook Sutherland and Connor Judson. Judson is expected to provide an immediate impact in both singles and doubles.
"We're really excited to see how he continues to develop as the year goes on," Redfern said.
The Pirates open the season with a trio of exhibition matches, the first on January 22nd against the University of Calgary before a visit to Montana State and Montana on January 31st and February 1st. Whitworth will close the early portion of its non-conference schedule with a match at Lewis-Clark State College on February 6th.
The hunt for an NWC Tournament berth begins on February 15th when conference rival Whitman heads to Spokane.
