By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's tennis squad returns to action at Scotford Tennis Center with three matches this weekend. The Pirates will play a doubleheader on Saturday against NWC foe Whitman at 11:00 am before hosting NAIA opponent College of Idaho at 3:00 pm. Lewis-Clark State College will visit on Sunday for a rematch at 2:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's tennis schedule page for live links to this weekend's matches.
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 (6-2 overall, 6-1 NWC) closed the first half NWC play with their third consecutive weekend sweep.
The Pirates defeated Puget Sound 6-1 on Saturday. Whitworth swept doubles and dominated its way to five singles wins. Josie Kellogg secured a 6-0, 6-0 sweep while Audrey Judson and Jordan Turner-Esposito gave up just two set points to their opponents. Faith Kert and Paige Oliver cruised to a pair of two-set wins to cap the scoring.
Whitworth won its sixth straight match with a 6-1 victory over Willamette on Sunday. Judson and Olivia Corbett won their sixth straight doubles match on the way to another doubles sweep. The Bucs won five singles matches and clinched the match with a dominant win from Judson. Hannah Wells earned her second conference victory from the No. 6 spot. Judson and Kellogg completed the first half of conference play with unbeaten 7-0 singles records.
The Opponents: Whitman heads to Spokane with an undefeated (8-0) NWC record and three conference sweeps. Nana Vang is the top Blues singles player and holds a 5-0 record from the No. 1 court in conference play. Julia Longpre and Renata Rosell have split time from the No. 2 position. Audrey Judson and Josie Kellogg were able to secure singles wins in a 5-2 loss to Whitman on February 14th.
College of Idaho holds a 5-8 record this season, with all five wins coming against Northwest Conference opponents. The Yotes battled Whitman last weekend and fell 7-0. Whitworth and Col. of Idaho last battled in 2024, and the Pirates came away with a 6-3 win in Spokane.
Lewis-Clark State College heads to Spokane with a 5-5 overall record. Lulu Mannayoo has held the top singles spot for the Warriors much of the season. The Pirates battled LCSC in Lewiston on February 7th and fell 7-0.
The NWC Race: Whitman (8-0) holds first place heading into the second half of conference play. Whitworth (6-1) is second with Lewis & Clark (5-2) close behind. Pacific (4-3) holds the final NWC Tournament spot. George Fox (3-4) and Puget Sound (2-5) hope to challenge for fourth.
The top four teams in the NWC standings will earn a spot in the NWC Tournament. The tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion.
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 88-87 during her tenure, including a 56-40 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 play five matches in eight days. Next weekend, the Pirates head to California to visit Chapman, Redlands and Whittier on March 22-24 before resuming NWC play at Pacific (Ore.) and Linfield on March 28-29.
