WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Playing its second nationally ranked opponent in as many days, the Whitman College women's tennis team dropped a 7-2 decision to the University of Redlands Friday afternoon.    

Redlands, ranked No. 28 in NCAA Division III (No. 6 in the West Region), upped its season record to 7-4.

Hannah Palkowitz

Whitman, ranked No. 10 in the west, slipped to 8-6.

Redlands bolted to a 3-0 lead with a sweep in doubles, although Whitman's Elise Otto and Alyssa Roberg led for much of their match at No. 1 doubles before losing 9-7 to Rachel Miller and Jessica Ly.

Elise Otto

Otto and Roberg led 7-4 at one point and had at least a few match points before their opponents rallied to win, Whitman coach John Hein said.

"When you are playing a good doubles team like that, you have to beat them, and we didn't do that today," Hein said.

"They weren't going to beat themselves. They hit some good shots when they needed them. Once Redlands came back from the match points, the final score was decided by just a few points here and there."

Whitman scored its team points at No. 2 singles, where Otto won her sixth straight decision in straight sets, and at No. 6, where first-year Missionary Hannah Palkowitz was a winner in a third-set tie-breaker.

"Hannah played smart and strong and used all of her shots," Hein said. "That was a very good win for her."

Roberg, a sophomore, battled Miller, a Redlands senior, to a split of their first two sets at No. 1 singles. Miller won the third-set, played as a 10-point tie-breaker, by a 10-8 count.

Sophomore Kate Kunkel-Patterson, who missed yesterday's match with a sore wrist, returned to play at both No. 2 doubles and No. 4 singles.

"The wrist was better today, but it's still swollen and there's some pain," Hein said. "It wasn't Kate's best tennis today, but she still hit the ball pretty well."

Whitman completes its Spring Break trip on Saturday with an 11 a.m. match against No. 21 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Claremont, Calif.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu