By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's tennis team will host its final home matches of the season this weekend. The Pirates will battle George Fox on Friday and Lewis & Clark on Saturday's senior day. Two wins this weekend would clinch a spot in the Northwest Conference tournament. 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 (10-6 overall, 8-2 NWC) earned its second Northwest Conference road sweep of the season last weekend.
The Bucs handled Pacific (Ore.) 6-1 on Saturday. After claiming the doubles point, Whitworth won five of six singles matches, all in two sets. Olivia Corbett earned a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win on the No. 5 court and Paige Oliver got back in the win column with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
On Sunday, the Pirates completed the season sweep over Linfield with another 6-1 win. Corbett and Audrey Judson helped secure the doubles point with their 12th straight match win on the No. 3 court. Hannah Wells earned her fourth singles win of the season at the No. 6 position and Josie Kellogg remained unbeaten against NWC opponents with a 6-1, 6-1 win on the No. 5 court.
Senior Day: Olivia Corbett, the lone senior on the 2025-26 team, will be playing her final match at Scotford Tennis Center this weekend. She has dominated doubles this season (13-1) alongside Audrey Judson and has a 4-3 singles record. Corbett will be recognized prior to the start of the match on Saturday.
The Opponents: George Fox is 8-7 overall this season and 6-4 in conference play heading into this weekend. The Bruins are on a four-match winning streak that included a pair of wins over Willamette and Puget Sound last weekend. Junior Riley Bobkiewicz is the No. 1 singles player for the Bruins and pairs with Shanah Denham on the No. 1 doubles court. Denham holds down the No. 2 singles position. Whitworth defeated GFU 5-2 on March 1 in Newberg for the first time since 2022.
Lewis & Clark is 9-5 overall and pushing for the second spot in the conference standings with a 7-3 NWC record. The River Otters will battle first-place Whitman on Sunday following their match in Spokane. Susanna Anand holds the No. 1 singles position with a 10-1 record in that spot. Charlotte Makoni is 6-5 from the No. 2 position and the two join forces on the No. 1 doubles court. Whitworth took down L&C 6-1 on February 28 in Portland.
The NWC Race: Whitman (10-0) maintains its position on top with Whitworth (8-2) holding second. Lewis & Clark (7-3) pushed into third with George Fox (6-5) holding the final tournament spot. Pacific (6-5) is fighting to make the jump 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 92-91 during her tenure, including a 58-41 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 close the regular season with a match at Puget Sound on April 11 and at Willamette on April 12.
