The Whitworth women’s tennis team started off their week with a 9-0 win over the Community College of Spokane, a non-conference team.
Next, the women went head-to-head with Whitman, the No. 16 team in the nation, and lost 7-2. The loss keeps Whitworth in sixth place in the Northwest Conference and brings them to a standing of 5-5.
The two match points against Whitman were secured on the lower end of the ladder, by No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Sophomore Morgan McDivitt, at No. 5 singles, started off the match with a loss of 6-1 in the first set. In spite of the beginning loss, McDivitt turned the second set around for a convincing win of 6-1. McDivitt took the win in a tiebreak of 10-3.
Freshman KC McConnell was victorious over her opponent at No. 6 singles. McConnell started off with a close loss of 6-4, followed by a win of 6-3. In the end, McConnell won by a tiebreak of 10-3.
“She had some good groundstrokes and could hit pretty hard,” McConnell said. “Getting her up to the net was a good strategy and also getting the ball really deep.”
In spite of the overall loss, head coach Jo Ann Wagstaff was pleased by the success attained by the lower end of the ladder, Wagstaff said.
“[Whitman wasn’t] playing their strongest lineup against us the first time, so I was happy that we were able to still win at those positions,” Wagstaff said. “It shows how deep our lineup is compared to other schools.”
The Pirates will spend this week preparing for next weekend’s matches against University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University. Depending on the outcomes of these two matches, the Pirates will go on to compete in the conference championships later this month.
“We’re pretty excited,” McConnell said. “The tennis we’ve played leading up to this has really prepared us well for the end of conference and then the conference tournament. We’re peaking at the right time.”
Wagstaff was also confident in the team’s ability to be successful next weekend.
“We’re feeling really confident,” Wagstaff said. “We can’t wait to play them.”
Both matches this weekend will be held at the Whitworth Tennis Center. The Pirates will meet UPS on Friday, April 12, at 4 p.m. and PLU on Saturday, April 13, at 12:30 p.m.
Contact Miranda Cloyd at [email protected]
