by Nathan Webber
The Whitworth women’s tennis team came out on the losing end of a top-10 regional matchup on Saturday, losing 6-3 to No.10 Whitman College at the Scotford Tennis Center.
The Pirates, currently ranked ninth in the region with a 10-4 overall record, pulled out three wins in the bottom half of the singles lineup and kept almost every match within reach.
“Overall I was pleased with our performance,” head coach Jo Ann Wagstaff said. “Whitman had just come back from a close loss to the No. 8 team in the nation so we knew they were going to be tough to beat, but we stayed with them.”
Junior Jessi Steele beat Whitman’s No. 4 singles player 6-3, 7-5 for her 13th singles win this season. Steele is currently on a 12-game singles win streak.
Whitworth, now third place in the Northwest Conference, was swept in doubles after an intense No. 1 doubles matchup. Seniors Alli Marshall and Erica Bosman came back for a 6-6 tie after being down by three games early, but eventually fell 8-6. The two also lost competitive matches in singles as Marshall fell 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 1 slot while Bosman lost 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 2 spot.
“Whitman’s top-three players could play Division I tennis and we played well against them,” Wagstaff said. “Our No. 1 doubles team played them very close and I am very happy with their performance.”
Senior Claire Hemming and junior Megan Wingfield bounced back in singles after the two lost in No. 3 doubles to the Missionary team of freshman Madison Webster and sophomore Hannah Palkowitz.
Wingfield won a close match with the No. 5 Whitman singles player, winning 7-5, 7-5, and Hemming outlasted Whitman senior Emily Rolston 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6). It was Hemming’s first singles win after losing her first singles match of the season on March 22 in Orlando, Fla., where the Pirates went 3-1 over the Spring Break trip. The win was Hemming’s 22nd of the season and Wingfield recorded her 16th win of the season.
The Whitworth women will stay at home this weekend as they host Willamette University and first-place Linfield College on Friday and Saturday.
Contact Nathan Webber at nathanwebber13@my.whitworth.edu.