By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's tennis returns to the Pacific Northwest this weekend following a three-match trip to California. The Pirates will hit the road again to Oregon to visit Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday and Linfield on Sunday. Both matches will begin at 11:00 am.
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 (8-6 overall) went 1-2 against a trio of talented SCIAC teams earlier this week.
On Sunday, Chapman beat the Pirates 6-1. Josie Kellogg and Audrey Judson paired for a win in No. 3 doubles, but the Panthers claimed the doubles point with wins on the other two courts. Faith Kert produced the lone Whitworth point of the match with a 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5) three-set singles win in the No. 2 position.
Redlands, who is now ranked 26th in the country, swept the Pirates 7-0 on Monday. Audrey Judson and Olivia Corbett salvaged a hard-fought match win in the No. 3 doubles position 7-6 (7-3). The Bulldogs won each singles match in two sets.
The Whitworth women bounced back with a 6-1 win over Whittier to close the trip on Tuesday. The Bucs claimed the doubles point with wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 court, highlighted by Corbett and Judson's 10th straight doubles win. Whitworth dominated five singles matches led by Hannah Wells and Jordan Turner-Esposito, who each earned 6-0, 6-0 sweeps.
The Opponents: Pacific is 6-6 overall and 6-3 in conference matches heading into this weekend. The Boxers are coming off a 5-1 loss to Salisbury University last Friday. Chloe Takahashi holds the No. 1 singles position for Pacific and Stell Nishimura has been a mainstay at the No. 2 spot. The two combine for an 8-1 record on the top doubles court. The Bucs beat the Boxers 6-1 on February 21 in Spokane.
Linfield is 1-14 this season and 1-9 in conference play. The Wildcats also returned from California this week after dropping matches against Occidental, Caltech and Cal Lutheran. Kaitlynn Canubida is the top singles player for Linfield with a 3-11 record on the No. 1 court. Samantha Baltz plays in the No. 2 position and has a 4-6 record. The two have combined for a 1-10 record on the top doubles court this season. The Pirates swept the Wildcats 7-0 on February 22 in Spokane.
The NWC Race: Whitman (9-0) maintains its position on top with Whitworth (6-2) and Pacific (6-3) battling for second. Lewis & Clark holds the final NWC Tournament spot at 5-3 with George Fox (4-4) a match behind. Puget Sound (3-6) will hope to make a push into the top four.
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 90-91 during her tenure, including a 56-41 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 return to Spokane to host its final home matches of the season on April 3 and 4 against Goerge Fox and Lewis & Clark.
