by Andrew Goodwin | Sports Editor
The Whitworth women’s tennis is encouraging students to bring clothing donations for Global Neighborhood Thrift and “Pack the Bub” for their match this Saturday at 1 p.m. against Lewis & Clark State.
The event serves a dual purpose of bringing students to the Whitworth Tennis Bubble and collecting donations for an organization which does good in the community, head coach Rachel Aldridge said.
“As a tennis coach, one of the main things I want for my players is to leave here not necessarily feeling like they had 100 percent better tennis skills than coming in,” Aldridge said. “That’s awesome if it happens, but my goal is to help them become better people.”
Aldridge spoke with the Whitworth alumni who run Global Neighborhood earlier in the week. They told her they are in need of clothes college students wear. The team will have three large bins at the matches which they’re hoping to fill with clothing, she said.
Emma Jo Wiley, a sophomore on the team, said the women responded positively to the news they were going to assist others.
“We have been wanting to reach out to our community, so this is a great opportunity,” Wiley said. “We would be happy to see any amount of clothing and attendance at our match.”
If the fundraising goes well, the team is hoping to continue to accept donations at the rest of their matches too, Wiley said.
As for the tennis, Whitworth dropped their first match at Lewis & Clark State earlier in the season, and Aldridge acknowledged the Bucs are looking to even the score.
“[Lewis & Clark State] is a really strong team,” Aldridge said. “It’s always fun to play them, but we do want the win.”
Aldridge encouraged students to support the women at their match as well as the men’s team, which plays on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Bubble.
Donations will be accepted throughout the women’s match on Saturday, which is estimated to last about three hours. More information can be found here. The Whitworth Tennis Bubble is located between the Whitworth Aquatics Center and U-Rec, right next to the Cutter Tennis Courts.