By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's tennis heads into its first full weekend of Northwest Conference action. The Pirates will host Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday and Linfield on Sunday. Both matches will begin at 11:00 am and will stream live on FloCollege.
Check the Whitworth men's tennis schedule page for live links to this weekend's match.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's home and Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $108 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Pirates: Whitworth (0-2 overall, 0-1 NWC) fell 5-2 to defending NWC champion Whitman in its conference opener last weekend. The Pirates surrendered the doubles point but Faith Kert and Josie Kellogg combined for a 6-4 match win in the No. 2 doubles slot. Audrey Judson battled to a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) win in the No. 4 singles position to secure the second Pirate point.
The Opponent: Pacific comes into this weekend with a 2-1 overall record and 2-0 mark in conference play. Last weekend, the Boxers beat Willamette 6-1 and Puget Sound 7-0. Despite the graduation of the 2025 NWC Player of the Year Cassidy Binder, Pacific returns two second team all-NWC honorees in Stella Nishimura and Chloe Takahashi. The Boxers were voted second in the 2026 NWC women's tennis preseason poll. Last season, Pacific took down Whitworth 5-2 in their first matchup in Spokane and 6-1 in the second in Forest Grove.
Linfield (0-4, 0-2 NWC) is still looking for its first win heading into this weekend. Puget Sound and Willamette both handed the Wildcats a narrow 4-3 loss last weekend. Junior Kaitlynn Canubida, a 2025 second team All-NWC selection, has played each match at the No. 1 position for Linfield this season. She pairs with junior Samantha Baltz as the top doubles duo. The Wildcats were picked eighth in this season's NWC women's tennis preseason poll. Whitworth holds a three-match winning streak over Linfield, including a 7-0 sweep in Spokane last season.
The Coach: Rachel Aldridge is in her 12th year as Whitworth's head women's tennis coach after serving as an assistant from 2012-2014. The Pirates have a dual record of 82-87 during her tenure, including a 50-40 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 Whitworth women will hit the road and visit Lewis & Clark on February 28 and George Fox on March 1.
